Sometimes I just have to play

I spent some time with Stefanie at Charming Lulu a few days ago. I was there to buy one of those cool mechanical chalk pencils with all of the colors for Alice. (affiliate link) As we talked I shared with her some of my ideas for fabrics, and she got a big smile on her face. Showing me one of the big fabric companies catalogs, we agreed great minds think alike. When I put my houndstooth quilt pattern out 4 years ago, I was wishing for more houndstooth fabric - It is coming, big time. Still no one is imagining it as sparkly as Kim at Persimmon Dreams made hers from my pattern with a rainbow of hand dyed fabrics. My dream incorporates prints too. I just wanted to put this out there now, today The 29th of June 2014. It is my idea to put ditsy prints in a houndstooth. I am not going to patent it or anything, but if a fabric company wanted to talk, I am here. This shows the new scale for the pillow top quilt compared to the original from 2010. Also, if you already have the houndstooth quilt pattern from me, I will get an email list together and contact you all to share a slightly easier way to cut it that has no waste, as well as the new sizes to use if you want the pillow top size. The ditsy fabric I used here is from Jeni Baker's new line called Dreamin Vintage. It has a Liberty of London feel to it and Art Gallery Fabrics are so soft, you will become addicted to them.

Teach your girls to quilt

Houndstooth Quilt 1
Originally uploaded by KimsCraftyApple

No offence, gentlemen. A couple of things have come together in my mind as this week has unfolded. The first part was getting a message from Laurie Wisbrun asking me if she could use photos of the reading glasses case she just bought from me in her upcoming book. YES. Laurie is the fabric designer also known as ScarletFig. I have loved her work via Spoonflower for a while now. The second part has been evolving as I have been working on some quilting projects this week. It's the idea that when we cut up fabrics and stitch them together again, we are designing a new fabric. That idea really hit home last night when I got the email with the link to this quilt top pieced from my houndstooth quilt pattern. Kim used hand dyed fabrics and so many colors, the quilt just twinkles! I never would have thought of a colorful houndstooth, but Kim did. I think this is a brilliant fabric design. Excellent work, Kim. Thanks so much for sharing. I think when we teach our girls how to quilt, we are opening up all kinds of design possibilities for them. I've said this before too - quilting will improve your other sewing. Find a local quilting class, like this one at Buttercuppity, and sign her up!