It's Giveaway Day - Low Volume vs. High Volume

Congratulations to Patty - the winner of the quilting loot!

An enormous thank you to all who entered the giveaway and a double thanks to those of you who became blog and/or Facebook followers. 

*****

It's Sew, Mama, Sew! Giveaway Day!

I've been thinking a lot about color lately as I've been working on various quilts and patterns. Color, I love you, but it's hard not to notice the big trend of 2013 - low volume, neutrals, earth tones, whatever you want to call them.

So here's my question for you. Which color palette do you prefer? Low volume? High volume? Something in between?

Now a little about the loot...

Get your neutrals on with a signed copy of Amy Ellis' Modern Neutrals book.

Next up, a range of Moda Candy (cute little precut bundles of 2 1/2" squares) from low volume to high volume.

A copy of my quilt pattern, Bella Roma, where I encourage you to go bold with color!

And finally, a Hera Marker from Clover. While this item has nothing to do with high or low volume, it may come in handy when finishing your high or low volume quilt project. Use it to mark your quilting lines without using a pen/chalk/pencil.

So here's the entire lot of it:

This giveaway is open to U.S. folks, only. Good luck!

-Annik

P.S. Feel free to leave a comment on the blog if you don't want to enter through Rafflecopter. I'll make sure your name is in the drawing.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cure for the common cold (spell)

It's time for a little fun after a long weekend of sick kids and sub-zero temperatures. Thankfully, Sew, Mama, Sew's Giveaway Day is tomorrow!

Have you participated in the past, either doing a giveaway or entering others? It's such a fun way discover new blogs and potentially win some really cool stuff.

Here's a sneak peak of what I'll be giving away. Please stop by again this week to enter.

Stay warm!

Annik

Big Girl Quilting Camp

Tomorrow I'm headed to my first overnight quilting retreat. Yippee!

I had hoped to be packed by this point, but you know how it goes. My suitcase is still empty, save for the items my children kindly packed for me. Contents currently include a teddy bear, an Incredible Hulk action figure, a Hello Kitty backpack, and a Dora coloring book. So, aside from these essentials, what else do I need to bring?

Time to tackle the UFO pile

Here's my list so far...

sewing machine
my sewing projects
rulers
rotary cutter
pins
scissors
thread
extra bobbins
seam ripper
machine feet
painter's tape
extra fabric

and I'm also thinking...

ear plugs (I'm a light sleeper)
slippers
camera
an electronic device for connecting to the outside
cell phone
directions to the retreat center
food

Retreat prep day. Cutting up precious Hope Valley yardage.

What are your quilting retreat tips and essentials? I'd love to hear from you.

-Annik

P.S. Thank you, Minneapolis Modern Quilt Guild, for organizing the retreat.

Quiet blog, active sewing room

Yeah, I've neglected the blog again. That doesn't mean I haven't been busy, though. Here's a brief rundown of what I've been doing lately, in photos -

Cutting fabric orders

Cutting strips 

Free motion quilting and hand sewing binding

Raiding the fabric stash

Cutting more strips 

Washing and pressing fabric

Writing this pattern

Basting and machine quilting

That green Olfa cutting mat is kind of a reoccurring theme!

2013 Spring Quilt Market Recap Vol. 1

A postcard arrived in the mail last week announcing the dates of Fall Quilt Market. Yikes! I still haven't blogged about Spring Market in Portland, Oregon. It's time to blog about it before it's ancient history, right?

Here are some of the many things that caught my eye...

Hello Tokyo by The Red Thread for Robert Kaufman. Dying!!

Gorgeous red and white quilts from Minick and Simpson

Pat Sloan's new Bobbins and Bits. Now why didn't I include her in the pic?

Most swoon-worthy collection at Quilt Market? Violet Craft's Waterfront Park!

Lazy Daisy Baskets by Darlene Zimmerman for Robert Kaufman.

From Art Gallery Fabrics. Beautiful booth, beautiful solids.

The Art Gallery displays are always amazing, and this Market was no exception. Carnaby Street.

Gorgeous quilt pattern from Sassafras Lane Designs. I want to make this quilt!

Brigitte Heitland's Zen Chic patterns and prints are in a class of their own.

The latest Echino Ni-co line. I need this bag.

More beautiful fabrics from Kokka

Love these prints spotted in the Seven Islands booth.

Upcoming Joel Dewberry.

Denyse Schmidt's new line, Florence, for Free Spirit.  

Don't you just love these colors?

The reality is, I didn't shoot many photos and the ones I took are dark and grainy. Time to start saving up for a new camera!

In the next post I'll show you what I ordered for the shop, a book review or two, and give a peek at the massive amounts of fabric I picked up at Sample Spree. Oh, my.

Stay tuned. More to come.

Happy sewing!
Annik

Class Pics

This past Saturday was the last installment of the Bella Roma class at Treadle Yard Goods. LaVaughn, the instructor, was kind enough to invite me over to see what her students made.

To be honest, I was a bit nervous. Bella Roma is my first published pattern. I sort of felt like my English paper was being read in front of the class. The feedback was excellent, though, much to my relief!

So, without further ado, here are the class' quilts:

Adore these colors and textures.

Red, white, and black are always so beautiful together.

Black, white, and gray with a pop of color in the floating squares and narrow border. Stunning.

Soft and lovely. Melissa's quilt will hang in the store when it's done.

I love the variety and creative interpretations of the original design. A very exciting day, indeed.

Happy sewing,
Annik

The Big Bella Roma

Minnesota has been far more September than July lately. Fine by me. July is usually much too hot for sewing since my little studio doesn't have air conditioning. The very thought of turning on the iron typically sends sweat down my spine. But this is sewing weather!

I've spent every spare moment of the last week machine quilting the large version of my Bella Roma quilt.

Inspired by Angela Walters' Free-Motion Quilting book (a must-have for any quilter), I opted for an all over faux bois/woodgrain pattern.

At 81" by 102", this is the largest quilt I've ever made and the free motion design is taking me FOREVER. I'm not even at the half way point yet. It's a 10 bobbin quilt at least and it looks like a single 1300 meter spool of Aurifil won't be sufficient. Eek!

All whining aside, it feels great to be sewing.

The Monster

I'll share a photo of the finished product when I'm done. Oh, please let that be soon...

Happy sewing!
Annik

Introducing the Bella Roma Quilt Pattern

I'm excited to introduce my new quilt pattern, Bella Roma!

Here's a bit of info about the pattern...

• The design was inspired by Italian tile work.
• It's the perfect pattern for that single charm pack or layer cake hanging around in your fabric stash.
• Most of the yardage required is solid quilting cotton. Since solids tend to be less expensive than prints it's economical. Hooray!
• The pattern includes two versions: 

• a throw quilt made from one charm pack, a coordinating print for the floating squares and narrow border, and a solid background fabric. The finished size is 46" by 55 1/2". 







• a queen size quilt made from one layer cake, a coordinating fabric for the floating squares, and a solid background fabric. The finished size is 81" by 102".









• The layer cake queen is great for medium and large-scale prints.

Big blocks!

•  If you can sew half square triangle blocks and strip piece sets, you can make this quilt.
• The negative space in both versions create a perfect canvas for interesting free-motion quilting. 

• Use bold colors or muted tones. It's all good.
• Does your scrap bin runneth over? Skip the pre-cuts and cut your own forty 5" squares or forty 10" squares.

Bella Roma comes in both a PDF instant download file, available on Craftsy and Etsy, and a paper version (Etsy shop only).

Source: Bella Roma via MiniMushrooms on Craftsy

The pattern is $9. It includes 7 pages of detailed cutting and sewing instructions, loads of diagrams, and helpful tips.

And I have one more exciting bit of news.

Bella Roma is being offered as a class at Treadle Yard Goods in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The class starts this Saturday, July 20th at 2 p.m. LaVaughn Bye, seamstress and quilter extraordinaire, is teaching the course. Give Treadle a call at 651.698.9690 to sign up. The pattern is available for purchase there, too.

Here's a photo of LaVaughn's Bella Roma. Isn't it lovely?

Happy sewing!
Annik