Izzy & Ivy Designs

Izzy & Ivy Designs is a new children's pattern design company on the scene. We first saw them pop up on Moda Bake Shop with really stylish pattern tutorials, then got to meet them this year at Quilt Market! These 3 ladies all bring their personal expertise to the table, and, seeing what they've been able to spin out so far, we can't wait to see what's next!

(by Shasta Perry) It all began less than a year ago when I called Jana Nielson (aka Lola) on the phone to tell her of her idea to start a children’s pattern company. I am a quilt shop owner, and Jana was the shop's Purse of the Month Club designer and teacher. I had the ideas, and Jana had the pattern skills. Jana was all for it. A few months later I found an incredible seamstress with an eye for style. I kept after Lauralee Billingsley, a shop regular and fabulous seamstress, to join the crew, and luckily she relented. That is how Izzy & Ivy was formed. We feel like we were meant to work together.

Preparations for Houston Quilt Market 2009 began immediately, and were fast and furious. We decided to debut with 15 or more patterns…kind of a crazy idea considering we only had 5 months, at this point, to prepare.

Our first Quilt Market was amazing. It all feels like a dream! It was so exciting for us that other people liked our designs as much as we do! It was great to meet all of the shop owners, and get their advice and suggestions. One highlight was winning Best New Vendor. When they made the announcement we screamed, and everyone looked. It was fun!

I'm the mother of 7, Jana has 6 kids, and Lauralee has 2 (so far). We design children’s clothing because we are mothers. Not only that, but we are mothers who sew. Jana has a background in design. She majored in Costume design in college, with a minor in art. I'm the quilter in the bunch. Lauralee is the queen of style! She can always tweak anything to make it cutting edge.

Our vision was to create a line of patterns that were stylish, but not difficult to make. We want to help that new sewer to want to keep sewing. We kept this in mind as we made the patterns, and wrote the instructions, making each step fully illustrated. To make sure that our patterns were understandable we had a sewing club test our patterns. This group had a variety of sewing levels, from beginning to expert, and they proved very helpful in finding all of our mistakes.

We are already working on several patterns for next season…not 18 though. We have several bags (yeah!) a boy quilt, and more darling girlie clothes. Look for us, and some pattern surprises, in various quilting magazines.

We still love every second of this dream we are living, even the seconds we spend working out all of the kinks. We love being able to work with so many fun people, and we appreciate all of the support and friendship we have been surrounded with.


Shasta, Jana & Lauralee
Izzy & Ivy Designs

Thank You from Fat Quarter Shop!

In light of the season, we wanted to let you know that we are so, so thankful for your business, patronage, whatever you want to call it...we love our customers! We get such nice e-mails from you everyday (they get passed around the office), and you make us laugh (with you, not at you), and...well, without you we wouldn't be here.

So here's a little Thank You, from Fat Quarter Shop to you, that'll get you 20% off your next purchase with us! :)

Hearth & Home Block of the Month by Pam Buda

Last year, just about this time, we launched our very first BOM program, designed exclusively for Fat Quarter Shop by Pam Buda of Heartspun Quilts, called Heartland Heritage. (If any of you reading were in it, give us a shout out!) We were so enamored with Heartland Heritage and wanted to do another. Well, long story short, she showed us the design that would become Hearth & Home, for another program -- but the instant we saw the setting, we asked her to save it for another block-of-the-month collaboration. She graciously obliged, and teamed up with the next Kansas Troubles line for Moda, Butterfly Garden (due February 2010), she churned out more amazing-ness, and Hearth & Home was born. This beautiful sampler quilt program (see photo below!!) starts in March 2010 and runs for 12 months.

We include oodles of fabric (24 yards) for the quilt top and binding, with a backing set available separately. The quilt finishes at 95" x 110" -- big enough for a king-size! Definitely a treasure to keep for the ages.

What is it about cotton fabric that it brings us such joy? My love affair with fabric has brought many wonderful experiences into my life, and for as long as I have been quilting I have truly loved the fabric created by Lynne Hagmeier of Kansas Troubles Quilters for Moda. This is absolutely no secret to anyone who knows me! You may remember that last year I had the good fortune to design an exclusive block of the month for the Fat Quarter Shop called Heartland Heritage, and I used the Wildflower Serenade II fabric by Kansas Troubles.

Well…..I am so jazzed to tell you that Kimberly asked me to design a new, exclusive block of the month using the new Kansas Troubles fabric line Butterfly Garden! I jumped at this terrific experience as well!!

Hearth & Home is the name of the new block of the month, and all I had to do was to get my hands on the gorgeous fabric Lynne designed, and my creative wheels began turning. I found fun blocks for each month, creating several original blocks just for this quilt, and created an eye-catching center design to pull them all together. I do love scrappy quilts, but in them, I always look for a place to calm things down…to give the eye a place to rest, and I did that with the Chain-Log Cabin blocks that surround the quilt center. I finished the quilt design using one of my all-time favorite quilt blocks, a basket block.

If you’re thinking that Hearth & Home may be too difficult for you…no worries! The step-by-step directions will take you through every block, and there are plenty of graphics to help you as well. I wouldn’t want you to miss out on the experience of making this quilt as I just know you’ll love it! And just wait until you see the Butterfly Garden fabrics…you know how quilts are pretty in a picture, but drop dead gorgeous in real fabric? Ah huh…just wait…you’ll see!


Wishing you peace while piecing,
Pam Buda
Heartspun Quilts

Hi! My name is Kate Spain...

We had the great privilege of meeting one of Moda's newest designers at Market in October. Her name is Kate Spain, and she is just one of the nicest people on the face of the earth. Her first line for Moda is called Verna, and this wonderful dose of spring love hits stores in February 2010. But before then, we thought it'd be nice to formally introduce her to our Jolly Jabber readers, like any good debutante, so here she is...a little meet 'n greet post for ya :)

1) So give us a little background info!

I was born in New York City and now live in Fairfield, Connecticut. When I was little, I carried a sketchbook around like some kids carry their favorite stuffed animal or blanket. Growing up, instead of having Atari, we had a potter's wheel (see picture -- I was 9 years old), instead of watching television, we would draw or paint...you get the drift! I actually still make pottery today (see pictures)! No matter what the medium, I've always found joy in the creative process, which ultimately landed me in art school.

I graduated from Rhode Island School of Design with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Graphic Design. While I was there, I also studied drawing, photography, printmaking, glassblowing and art history, which have all contributed significantly to the development of what I like to call my "visual voice".

After college, I created handmade decorative and functional wares in an artist's cooperative in Newport, RI. After that I moved to NYC, where I was a children's book designer at Simon & Schuster Publishing. I worked primarily with Nickelodeon to develop media tie-in books for their hit shows. From there, I segued from books to children's accessories, designing and developing licensed-character merchandise for several leading accessories companies in NYC. For many years, I worked on Hello Kitty accessories that were sold at Target, Limited Too, and other national retailers.

Finally in 2008, I decided to take a leap and start my own art licensing business. I put together a portfolio of my own artwork and showed it in a booth at Surtex (surface design and textiles trade show) in New York City. I've shown there for 2 years now and in that time have signed licensing contracts with over 10 companies in product categories ranging from paper tableware, ceramics, and scrapbooking, to kitchen textiles, gift wrap, and stationery. And of course...fabric!

2) How did you come to design fabric for the oh-so-prestigious Moda?

Around Christmas last year, one of my family members, Nancy, was visiting from Indiana. I told her a bit about my new design venture and shared some of my artwork with her. Nancy happens to be an avid quilter and she thought my art would be great on fabric -- she suggested I send some art samples to Moda. So I did! After a month of pacing and fingernail-biting, I learned the great news that Moda decided they'd like to work with me. I remember the actual day, February 18, 2009 (does that give you any idea of how excited I was/am?).

3) So what is the inspiration and story behind Verna? How do you envision it being used?

Verna is a celebration of spring! I love to garden, and when the cheery crocuses, tulips and daffodils start to bloom, it's a sure sign of spring's arrival. I always feel so hopeful, inspired and optimistic at this time of year and wanted to try to capture some of those sentiments in Verna through the use of color and lively patterns. The color palette has April shower blues, bright sprigs of green, blooms of pinks, yellow and apricot, and earthy browns. The Vernal Equinox happens at that time of year, so I shortened "Vernal" to "Verna" and liked the sound of it. One of the patterns in the collection is called "Equinox" too! Then, after poking around a bit more about the word "Verna" I found that it's of Latin origin and means "spring green" so it really fit perfectly.

Aside from the adorable quilt kit being offered on FQS, I think you could make some really cute girls' dresses, colorful quilted handbags/totes/weekender duffels...or..jeez..any craft project you can think of!


4) What is your fabric design process?

I usually begin with an idea, theme or concept about something I'm inspired by -- though sometimes it may be a color palette that I really love and then the theme builds around that. Either way, it's really important for me to have a connection that I'm excited to explore. Once I have a starting point, I do pencil sketches to get the wheels spinning, then make black line drawings from the sketches and scan them into my computer to work with digitally. The important thing to me when I work digitally is that my art maintains the spontaneity and line quality of something that was hand-drawn. I really think this helps to give my art its personality.

5) And finally – what are you doing right now?

Where to begin! My holiday 2010 fabric line for Moda, which is called "12 Days of Christmas", is in production.

In other areas, several new lines of paper tableware will be at Target in the upcoming months. I've also been working on a presentation for Target on a number of products for holiday 2011. In spring 2010, The Gift Wrap Co. will be coming out with bags, gift wrap and novelty items that feature my "Cherry Blossoms" pattern. And I'm honored to have two specially designed lines of tableware that will be offered at Crate & Barrel in early Spring 2010. Looking forward to an exciting and colorful year ahead!

Kate Spain
www.KateSpain.com
Kate's blog

The Silent Re-Auction Winner...

...is Amy D!

We unofficially had dubbed her "mysterious Amy D." when she first popped up on Camille's blog, but now we know who she is, and she is the big winner of Camille's Wild Thing quilt!

Thank you to all who bid -- Bonnie, ByTheSea, Denice, and our wonderful pal Moda Lissa -- for being moved to act and giving hope for Benson & Claire's whole family.

Even better? We just found out that Moda is matching the winning bid. How awesome.

If you'd still like to donate, here is their Donor Page. And if you'd like to drop the family an encouraging note, you can e-mail them here.

Again, thanks so, so much. Can't say how much of an honor it is, just to be able to get involved. We had a sweet comment from the children's aunt, and that's where I'll end it!

Rebecca
"I just have to say THANK YOU!!! Claire and Benson is my niece and nephew and Jared is my brother. This family is amazing and means the world to me, and seeing you amazing people helping for this cause is just awesome!!! Thank you to all of you!!"

Close to My Heart by Laundry Basket Quilts

Edyta Sitar is one of those all-around, amazing women that leave you scratching your head, wondering how she does it all. She teaches, designs fabrics for Moda, and writes numerous quilting books and batik patterns. Her newest endeavor has been creating and promoting her new thread assortment with Aurifil Threads, but today we're happy to have her "visit" to talk about her newest line, Close To My Heart! It's an amazing combination of prints and batiks (what she may be most well-known for in the fabric world). The strong cool hues lend a tropical destination atmosphere, while the softer prints draw you home. We've got the full line of print and batik yardage, and the batiks are available in a bundle. For her first Jolly Jabber appearance, we posed to her several questions...

How long have you been quilting, and when did you begin designing patterns & fabrics?

My mother taught me how to sew and Michael’s (my husband) grandmother and mom introduced me to quilting. I immediately fell in love with it - quilting is my life passion, it does not feel like a business at all. I began designing patterns seven years ago, and three years ago I started designing fabrics for Moda Fabrics.

Where does the name Laundry Basket Quilts come from?

Laundry Basket Quilts came from Michael’s grandmother. She used to put all the brand new just finished quilts in a big laundry basket and take them outside to hang them on the laundry line. We would sit on the grass and have our mini laundry line quilt show. When Grandma said, "Let’s look at the Laundry Basket Quilts," you knew that you were in for a treat.

What inspires you, especially for Close To My Heart?

I love traveling, gardening and spending time with my family. Many times that’s what inspires me to create my designs/fabrics.

Close To My Heart is a collection that truly showcases how I feel about my friends and fellow quilters. I thought the name seemed so appropriate. One of the fabrics has messages that I would love to share and want others to share as well.

What's going on in your studio now?

I have just published a new book, called Friendship Triangles, that will give quilters many ideas for fabric exchanges. I am also working on a brand new collection called Aloha. I want to take everyone on a trip without leaving their sewing room!

Edyta Sitar
Laundry Basket Quilts

P.S. The silent re-auction of Camille's quilt for Benson & Claire is still on!

Silent RE-Auction for Benson & Claire

** This auction is now closed -- thank you to all who bid! **

For the hundreds and hundreds of you all with the Thimble Blossoms blog in your Google reader, this is going to look a bit familiar.

Camille's post from November 1 is a silent auction (closed as of last night) for one of her most popular (and a personal favorite) quilts, Wild Thing, for a family with two kids, Benson and Claire, who have a rare genetic disease and need organ transplants -- right now for Claire and most likely later for Benson. (Visit their family's blog for more info.)

From Camille's blog:
When I first heard about Benson and Claire, it really hit home for me. (Especially these videos of little Claire.) Partly because their dad, Jared, is from my little hometown, and his family lives just down the road from mine, but partly, because I'm a mom. And my heart just breaks for every mom, every parent, or grandparent that has to go through something like this...

So to (hopefully) raise some money to help them out, (I mean, really- look at those smiles) I am going to auction off one of my all time favorite quilts, Wild Thing. This is the actual quilt on the pattern cover, measures 58" x 64", and it was pieced, quilted and bound by me. It is soft and snuggly, and in perfect shape, as it has been traveling in trunk shows to different quilt stores. It has been freshly washed and smells delicious. :-)

Anyhoo, last night Kimberly & pal Vicky McGee aka L.A. Quilter joined forces to buy this quilt. We would like to personally send a big THANK YOU to Vicky for helping us purchase the quilt!

But not to keep.

We are RE-auctioning the Wild Thing quilt, with all proceeds also going toward the transplants for Benson and Claire.

Here's what you can do to help...

1. Bid on this quilt! The RE-auction starts now and will close next Monday, 11/16, at 11am CST. Please comment with a bid higher than the previous comment, and the bidding will start at $50.

2. Bid on other items at the Auction for Benson and Claire blog, going on until November 16, midnight. Auction also includes a Cotton Way quilt donated by Bonnie!

3. If you'd like to donate directly, you can do that here.

I think with all the goodwill and giving going around on those couple of pages, they've been given hope. We'd just like to add a little more!

Thanks to Camille for allowing us to re-auction and for giving us a way to spread the word for Benson and Claire.

Here's a more recent family video that will put a smile on your face :)

Artful Offerings Winner

Hey guys! Wow...it's been a busy week. So much new stuff has come in -- not only new fabric and patterns, but NEW new stuff, like gift wrap from Moda Home, ribbon by J. Caroline, and Sampler Boxes!

What do you think of these NEW new things? Give us some feedback!

Also, time to announce the winner of the Artful Offerings pattern set...

Eamylove!
E-mail jocelyn (at) fatquartershop (dot) come to claim your prize!

Thanks...and happy weekend, all!

Moda Bake Shop Boxes are here!!

Moda Bake Shop Boxes, the newest of the bakery line up, is now available to buy!! We blogged about these goodies back at Market and they are finally here!

They contain 12 packs of 2 1/2" charm squares from 12 of Moda's upcoming lines -- Bar Harbor, Butterfly Garden, Collection for a Cause: Charity, Eden, Frolic, Garen Party, Lakeside Resort, Looking Back, Martinique, Spring Fever, Verna and Whimsy. Also included are charm pack projects and a history of charm quilts. These lines do not come out until Spring, so you can preview and plan to your heart's delight!

Buy them for yourself or for gifts, but do it soon! The sell-out risk for these boxes is high, so get yours before they run out!!

Strip On by G. E. Designs

**This giveaway is now closed!! Thanks for playing :)**

This has been a busy year for Gudrun Erla -- fabric designing, travelling, teaching, blog hopping -- but today she's with us to talk about her latest book, Strip On. Known especially for her ever-expanding repertoire of G.E. Designs "strip" patterns, Strip On really shows the endless possibilities of 1 1/2" and 2 1/2" strips with gorgeous results! Gudrun has generously given us 2 copies of the book to give away, so read all the way through to see how you can win! Also, she and several other quilt designers are kicking off their Cross Country Christmas Blog Hop today with a darling little game of "guess-who"!

Hi Jolly Jabbers!

It’s great to be back at the Jolly Jabber to blog about my brand new book, Strip On. The book was really inspired from my collection of strips that has been growing for years. Before they sold the fabulous strip collections I used to cut all my leftover fabric from projects into strips of different widths and store them in containers. Now I have some wonderful bundles of strips added to my collection in the form of Jelly Rolls, Honey Buns, Sushi Rolls and so on. I decided to use two common sizes of strips for this book, 2-1/2” strips and 1-1/2” strips.


There are 10 quilts in the book and most of them include various sizes so that you can make a quilt to fit any bed or occasion. Here are some of the quilts in the book.

On the cover (shown at the very top) we have a quilt called Criss Cross Double Toss. This quilt is made from my new fabric line called Olivia that will be in stores early 2010. This is a quilt with lots of visual impact and goes together quickly with the big blocks. It’s a perfect combination with scrappy blocks paired with the perfect large scale print.

On the back cover is a fun and simple quilt called Steamy Windows. I used the Authentic fabric line by Sweetwater for the lap size quilt. Included in the book are instructions on how to create some bonus project with the leftovers, like the table runner.

Rocky Road is a simple vertical row quilt made from 2-1/2” strips. I used a new line by Blackbird Designs called Old Primrose Inn. The smaller quilt is Criss Cross Applesauce and is made from 1-1/2” strips.

Milky Way is a great stash buster. All you need is 46 assorted strips and some contrasting fabric for the stars to make this scrappy lap quilt. It was fun to stay with a color scheme on both quilts and not focusing on fabric lines. I used browns, greens and oranges for the fall colored quilt and pink, rose, aqua and light green for my spring version.

I love the crispness and clean lines of Angler’s Choice. I used a Mint Chip Bali Pop for the lap size shown on the dock and Hushabye by Tula Pink for the crib size quilt pictured by Devil’s Tower with my kids as props :-) This quilt is a must if you have a fishing guru in the family.

There are 3 more quilts in the book. If you want a peak at them, hop on over to my blog and check them out. I hope you enjoyed peeking through the pages of my new book and feel inspired to dance your way into the sewing room and STRIP ON!!:-) Tell us which quilt you would tackle first and you can win your very own copy of the book!!

Gudrun Erla
GE Designs
www.gudrun.typepad.com
www.gequiltdesigns.com

New Kits from Art Gallery Fabrics

Patricia Bravo, founder & designer of the wonderfully contemporary Art Gallery Fabrics,has launched her next venture into the wonderful world of kits! Branded as "Grab 'n Sew", she has created kits for four of her sewing patterns.

At Market, when she introduced these new kits to us, we fell in love with this hot kit with a fierce name, the FIRENZE BAG kit.

In this kit is all that's needed to complete the bag as shown, from fabric to embellishments. This kit includes Girly Girl fabric needed to make the bag as shown on the pattern, along with the Firenze bag pattern, cording for the handles, a matching pink zipper, muslin and matching thread to boot! And it all comes packaged neatly (this is very important to us! We're picky!) in a translucent bag with squishy gel handles (fun for your inner child :P).

How uncomplicated! So many thanks to Pat Bravo...let us know what YOU think...and read more about her other kits on her latest blog post!