QuiltCon Swag Winner and a Quick Update

I owe you guys some winners! Congratulations to Karen W. who won the copy of QuiltCon Magazine and to Elizabeth B. who won the Charm Pack.

I’ve had a busy catch up week! After getting home and settled from QuiltCon it was time to quickly finish a quilt for an upcoming magazine deadline, and then pack and get ready for my week-long class at the Folkschool coming up.  What a fun kind of busy right?

hst_quiltingSneak peek of what’s been keeping me so busy this week!

I love teaching so much that I’ve been booking more workshops for the spring and summer (see my updated teaching schedule here). I’ve even had a few inquiries for next year, so that’s pretty cool, too. I’m not ashamed to admit that I still like getting asked out. 🙂

20150312_luggageI got some fun new “quilty” luggage just for the trip!

I’ll be posting plenty of real-time Instagram updates (follow me @christaquilts) and I’ll try to sneak in a blog update or two while I’m gone. Part of my workflow involves getting my weekly newsletters ready ahead of time, so be sure sign up for my email list so you don’t miss a thing!

I will leave you with a  little bit of novelty eye candy, newly arrived precuts from our store….

diarywimpykidDiary of a Wimpy Kid Fat Quarters – aren’t these fun??

star_warsStar Wars bundle – you know you want it!!

spidermanSpiderman – need I say more??

Thank goodness Jason and the kids can hold down the fort while I’m away!

 

 

Fabric Friday – The Great Destash of 2015

Do you guys remember when I did the great fabric destash of 2013? Well guess what? It’s time to do it again in 2015!!

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I spent last weekend clearing off my entire shelf of novelty fabrics. I finally realized that as much as I love a good novelty print, I just don’t use them in my quilts. I’d rather sell them to you super cheap than let them languish on my shelves, unused. So here’s the deal:

destash3I have a total of 12 flat rate boxes, crammed full of novelty prints that I’m offering for just $50 each, shipped to the US ($75 to Canada and $95 international). The boxes have at least 15 yards in them and probably even more. So that makes them under $3.50 per yard – shipped!!

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Here’s the fine print: these are all quilt-shop quality fabrics that have been prewashed. Some may have edges that are a little raggedy and some may be a little wrinkled. A piece may have been cut out here and there. They are all in excellent condition and sizes range from about 1/8 to 1/4 yard all the way up to 2-3 yard pieces.

destash6Each box will be randomly stuffed with a variety of novelty prints, most of which are shown here. Each box with be different and will include some fabrics from each group of pictures shown, plus a few more that didn’t make it into the pictures.

destash7To claim your mystery box, just leave a comment below indicating how many boxes you want. I will select the first 12 buyers and payment will be via paypal. When you comment, It shows me your email address (but no one else can see it), so I will contact you that way to send you an invoice. So no need to share personal info here online.

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I’m sorry, but I can’t accommodate requests for specific fabrics or smaller amounts. It’s all going to be random, but that will be half the fun of getting your box, right?? These prints are perfect for eye-spy quilts, charity projects and fun pieced backings!

destash8To recap: leave a comment to claim your box for $50 shipped to the US. It will be a random assortment and all boxes will be stuffed with a good variety of novelty themed prints.

Thank You!

Fabric Friday – New Tonga Treats Batiks

One of the hottest sellers in my precut store are Timeless Treasures Tonga Treats.

Although I don’t personally use batiks very much (which I hope to improve on), my customers can’t get enough of the luscious vibrant colors. Tonga Treats come in all of the usual varieties: strips, charms, fat quarters, and 10″ squares. Plus they have created an exclusive precut called 6-packs – precut strips that are 6″ wide by the width of fabric.

Here are some of the newest treats:

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Carnivale 6 packs – comes in all the other sizes, too!

tonga_hawaiiHawaii Colorway – trendy coral and aqua.

tonga_reefReef Colorway – gorgeous blues and purples!

tonga_cabanaCabana Colorway – so beachy!

Aren’t they luscious??

Click here to see the full collection of Tonga Treats!

Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to Lori M. who is the winner of the Kaufman Skinny Strips and Moda Charm Pack shown below! I’ve sent you an email directly. Thanks also to those of you who participated by reading my weekly email newsletter. 🙂

Precuts

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Fabric Friday – Global Shipping for Precuts and a Giveaway!

For this week’s Fabric Friday, I thought I’d do something a little different – let’s have a giveaway!!

But first, I have some great news for my international friends: most of our precuts are now available for global shipping! Whoo hoo! I believe this is a pilot program, which if successful, will hopefully mean that all items will be available for international shipping in the future.

Click here to see which precuts this applies to. 🙂

PrecutsOne of you will win these precut bundles by signing up for my newsletter!

And now for the giveaway…

One lucky winner will receive the precut bundles shown above: a Skinny Strip (1 1/2″ x 40″ strips) of Valori Wells Blueprint Basics in Summer, plus a charm pack of Bella Snow.

Enter to win!

Click here to subscribe to my weekly email newsletter and you’ll be automatically entered to win! I use a double opt in system which means you’ll receive a confirmation email once you’ve added your name to the list. Be sure to find that email (check your spam box just in case) and open it to ensure you’ve been registered.

blueprint basics summerFabric swatches from Blueprint Basics – Summer

If you are already signed up for my newsletter, you don’t have to do a thing – you are already entered. Imagine that – you don’t even need to leave me a comment! Though of course you still can if you want to. 🙂

The giveaway is open to everyone worldwide through Monday, January 19th at midnight PST. I’ll draw a winner’s name and announce it on the blog during the day on Tuesday.

Have a happy sewing weekend!

Fabric Friday – Junior Jelly Rolls and Layer Cakes

It’s the  first Fabric Friday of the year! Whoo hoo! That means it’s time to introduce you to some fun new precuts. Moda has recently introduced junior precuts – smaller bundles of precut strips and squares.

The Junior Layer Cakes include 20 squares, precut into a convenient 10″ x 10″ size. Right now they include the most popular bella solid colors, with all the squares being cut from the same fabric. These are so versatile for backgrounds, or to combine with other layer cake squares.

jrlayercakesClick here to view all Junior Layer Cakes.

The Junior Jelly Rolls include 20 precut 2 1/2″ x 42″ strips that are all the same color, also bella solids. I think if these are successful, Moda will probably expand to include the print strips.

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Click here to view all Junior Jelly Rolls.

Want to keep up with the latest and greatest new precuts?

Click here to sign up for my weekly newsletter.

 

Fabric Friday – Kona Solids Designer Palettes

It’s no secret that I love Kona solids. When I look back at the quilts I’ve made this year, the majority of them have been made with solids! I think Robert Kaufman is smart by partnering up with some of your favorite bloggers to create curated designer palettes. Let me introduce you to a couple of them:

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Elizabeth Hartman’s Designer Palette includes 25 luscious shades of lilac, pink, yellow, teal and grey. The fat quarter bundle is perfect for anyone’s gift list, and it comes in all of the other standard precuts as well.

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With the release of Elizabeth Hartman’s new book, Patchwork City, there are 3 color groupings to go along with it: Patchwork City solids in Autumn, Winter and Summer. Aren’t they just luscious??

 

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Next up, popular blogger Rita Hodge of Red Pepper Quilts has her own blogger bundle consisting of pretty pinks and purples with a touch of brights and neutrals. I’m already thinking about what I could make from this palette!

20141212_rita_bundleThere will be more designers on tap for 2015 and I can’t wait to see what they come up with next!

 

 

Sneak Fabric Peek of Some New Projects

I’m excited to get a jump start on some quilts I’m hoping to finish next year. I wanted to play around with precuts and scraps and I can’t tell you how refreshing it is to sew with so many colorful pieces of fabric!

Pat SloanTriangle TipsI’m currently making a quilt using Pat Sloan‘s latest fabric line The Sweet Life which will be in shops (including ours) around February of next year. These are some leftover triangle trimmings from the quilt blocks. I decided they are so fun and colorful that I think I’ll make a bonus project from all of the leftovers. Got any suggestions?

Scrappy Charms_1I also started cracking open some mini charm packs and regular charm packs that I have accumulated over the last couple of months (and this is after attending quilt market and giving most of it away already!!)

Not quite sure what I wanted to do with them, I first sorted them into piles of lights and darks because I knew I wanted high contrast. I was able to flip over quite a few of the medium prints and they turned into pretty low-volume pieces on the back. I just love versatile fabric, don’t you?

scrappy_charms_2I just love the contrast between bright prints and more muted low-volume designs!

I’ve now got the perfect idea in mind – it’s based on a traditional quilt I made years and years ago that I’m going to tweak into a more modern design. I’ve been having a blast sewing together all of these little squares and playing with all these luscious colors and prints!

Fabric Friday – Pointillist Palette by Robert Kaufman

If you haven’t already guessed, I sort of have a thing for precuts. I also love saturated color and fabrics with a bit of printed texture. The latest grouping I’d like to share with you is the Pointillist Palette from Lunn Studios for Robert Kaufman.

20141120_pointillist_primaryFirst up is the primary colorway. Doesn’t that just look scrumptious? It reminds me of colored sugar!!

20141120_pointillist_earthThe earth colorway is right up my alley. I love the warm undertones and the subtle color shifts!

20141120_pointillist_sorbetAnd who can go wrong with the sorbet colorway – pretty pastels in soothing shades!

As of this writing, all three colorways are available in skinny strips (1 1/2″ wide), regular roll ups (2 1/2″ wide) and a new size: charm rolls (5 1/2″ wide), all by the width of the fabric.

So which colorway is your favorite? Click here to see all of the Pointillist Palette Precuts (and say that 3 times fast!)

Fabric Friday – Stonehenge by Northcott

Right now, I’m away at Sewtopia, a super fun modern quilting retreat in Salt Lake City this weekend. But thank goodness I can still share some fabulous fabric finds with you on this lovely Friday!

Let’s take a look at Stonehenge from Northcott, a beautiful collection of marbled basics, some with a bit of sparkle!

20141110_stonehenge_metallicThis metallic bundle features cheerful reds, greens and blues combined with warm neutrals in gold, cream and tan.

20141110_stonehenge_singaporeSingapore Sling includes my favorite warm colors of red, orange and yellow with a touch of pink.

20141110_stonehenge_sandsurfSand and Surf showcases the ever popular combo of green and teal with a hint of tan.

Aren’t they just delicious? These are just a few of the combinations available. Click here to see them all!