Artful Offerings by Karina Hittle

We are delighted to feature Karina Hittle of Artful Offerings. Her designs have been seen in top quilting magazines. Artful Offerings takes clever designs and adds whimsy to create something new. Karina has paired her patterns beautifully with a variety of fabric collections seen at the Fat Quarter Shop.

First, a heartfelt thank you to the Fat Quarter Shop for the wonderful opportunity to guest blog! We truly appreciate it. Let me start out by introducing our small Artful Offerings team. My name is Karina Hittle and I am the lead designer and owner of the Artful Offerings design studio. My husband Audie helps mostly with the business side of Artful Offerings, time permitting. He also works for a software and systems company. Audie and I are high school sweethearts (we actually took high school art classes together) and we enjoy working and being together whenever we can. In addition, we feel that our team consists of dozens of individuals, friends and alliance partners, who advise and support Artful Offerings in numerous ways.

The Artful Offerings studio is located in our walkout basement that we’re remodeling to create an attractive and functional workspace with large windows to allow for plenty of light and a great view of the outdoors. Our studio and home are nestled in the breathtaking woodlands and wetlands of northeastern Massachusetts. We are delighted to announce that on July 1 Artful Offerings celebrates seven years of continuous growth. In that time we have published nearly 120 Artful Offerings’ branded patterns and about 100 more in books, magazines and commissioned and/or licensed works!

We offer an eclectic mix of creatively fresh patterns that feature a wide variety of designs, such as purses and totes, baby quilts and diaper bags, wall quilts, runners and pillows, wool appliqués and a selection of punch-needle patterns. An ongoing effort that Audie and I work on together and have a lot of fun with is creating clever names for our designs. For instance, our Diamonds in the Ruffle pattern is a play on words from the phrase “diamonds in the rough.” We suggest a variation of the design for baby boy’s called Diamonds in the Ruff, which omits the ruffle on the mini diaper bag, and the cuddle quilt is finished with a traditional binding in place of the ruffle.

Now for a quick look at three of our newest patterns featured at Spring Quilt Market in Pittsburgh last month. These reveal a peek into our design thinking and trends. The first pattern is our Six in the City purse. It is said that variety is the spice of life, and this chic little bag is so fun and incredibly easy to make, that you’ll find you can’t make just one! Each of these six bags are perfect for a casual affair or a day in the city. In addition, the collection of Spring Magic fabric by April Cornell, offers a fantastic material palette from which to make any or all of these bags if you choose. No more baggy linings as this purse features Karina’s Easy Sung Fit™ Lining and directions for all six bag variations are included.

The second design is our Diamonds in the Ruffle pattern, featuring a cuddle quilt and mini diaper bag that use the fun and colorful Wonderland fabric collection by Momo. We think this darling tufted cuddle quilt is a "gem," perfectly sized to tag-a-long with precious baby! Use the mini diaper bag for a quick dash to the market. It features one extra large interior pocket, one small exterior pocket and enough room for a diaper or two, plus travel necessities. The diamonds are "set" using a unique fusible machine appliqué technique that keeps the diamond edges durable and the centers soft and cuddly!

The third pattern is Triple Treat Tote, which features one quilted tote in three easy styles! Like many of my patterns, beautiful fabrics can help inspire the design. In this case, the tote was inspired by the beautiful Teatime floral fabrics designed by Holly Holderman of Lakehouse Dry Goods. Directions for a bow tote, a button tote and a pocket tote are included in the pattern. The tote features two large interior pockets and one exterior key pocket located on the back.

In addition to always thinking about new pattern designs using the latest fabrics, we are currently designing and building an all new website! We’re also looking forward to working with some new materials and alliance partners, such as the Cosmo Embroidery Floss and Cotton Fabrics by Lecien! We also plan to integrate some stitchery into our new Fall 2009 designs.

Please check out the FREE patterns page on our website for some fun and unique designs which can be used as accessories with your existing favorites or made to compliment some of our patterns. Our website also keeps up to date with our newest offerings and details of the complete Artful Offerings’ pattern portfolio. Customer service is of primary importance to us, so please feel free to contact us through any of the website email links, or directly at ArtfulOfferings@aol.com, anytime with questions, comments or suggestions. Thanks so much for the opportunity to connect with you via the Jolly Jabber blog. Please stay in touch…

Kind Regards,
Karina of Artful Offerings

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