Its That Time Its that crazy time of year we’re preparing for…. I won’t even say it… but the bad word starts with M and ends with T and its another name for shop… if that doesn’t help you, then don’t worry, its probably better for you if you don’t anything about the busy frenzy that most fabric and pattern designers are in these days. For us here in the Fig Tree Studio, work is clipping along at a steady pace. I met with a group of my favorite creative gals last night and one of them asked me if I was in a panic yet… I said, “Panic, yeah, I’ve done that already, I’ve moved through now, I’m on to calmly checking things off my to do list…
Okay we all know that this is market prep time and that when it comes to technical computer stuff… well, the less said the better. More importantly, I’m sure you have figured out by now that for me, everything has to “fit” in with the feel of Fig Tree to work for me. So when, Holly told me I had to put this cute little button up…. I had a little problem, becuase the original color scheme just didn’t go with my site LOL!. You can see the original button here, or here. I felt the need to make a few slight alterations to my button…. I hope I didnn’t offend anyone. Oh and for putting it on my side bar, well, that will have to wait until I have a few more minutes to rub together…. On…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Well, it is still technicaly Friday here in California although I am sure that many of you have long gone to bed in your part of the world. I have finally finished design & quilt work for the day [although there is still a little bit of applique in my near future], put the kids to bed, cleaned the kitchen, folded some laundry and am now sitting and watching back-to-back “Murder She Wrote” episodes on my TIVO…. I wanted to thank all of you for your wonderful comments. It was so inspiring for me to hear about all of the things you are making or want to make with our fabrics and patterns. I was really touched by so many of your comments. I have tried to answer many of you and I truly apologize that I was not able to answer each and every…