What are you working on?

 

A bunch of fabric... for various projects... just lying there... looking delicious all together...mmmm.

What are you working on this chilly winter weekend?

Suzy Snack Sacks and a VISIT!!!

Suzy Ultman will be visiting the shoppe this Saturday from 1-4PM. This is a wonderful opportunity to meet a local artist who's worked hard to get where she is and who's joyfulness and whimsy comes pouring through her craft. Suzy's work is unmistakably her own. She designs fabric for Robert Kaufman, has been published by Chronicle books, designed for Crate and Barrel and launched a very fun new line of dolls with Land of Nod!!

In preparation for her visit we've all been crafting fun little things using the fabric from her latest line, Handle with Care! 

You might remember the tea towels I made before her last visit.. Well, I once again wanted to make something useful for someone close so I decided to fashion Snack Sacks for my little girls lunches. We've really been trying to reduce our waist and also save a bit [$] and one idea we've embraced is skipping the zip-locks and using cloth pouches for snacks. We have a few already but it seems one (or all) of them is always in the wash cycle while I'm packing their lunches in the evening. Therefore I've been meaning to make more. 

SUZY SNACK SACKS!

They are very simple.... I start with 2 rectangles. I find starting with two 8"x14" rectangles (makes for a good sandwich size) or use two 6"x13" pieces (for smaller crackers and such). 

I sew the 2 pieces right sides together and leave a small opening for turning out. 

Once turned and pressed I attach my hook&loop (velcro) tape, 1/2" from the top edge on the lining side of the fabric and 1/2" from the bottom edge on the exterior side of the fabric. 
You could also use snaps or buttons if you prefer.. 

Next I fold the bottom up 5 1/2 - 6" ( matching up my velcro) press and pin.
Then I edge stitch from the bottom left corner across the left side over the top and down the right side finishing at the bottom right corner, back-tacking at the start and finish. 

The appliqués on the smaller pink sack were done using the same method as the tea towels in which I used wonder under to adhere them to the fabric before machine stitched around the raw edge!  

While I feel proud of their cuteness and can't wait to send them to school they'll be on display at the shoppe first. I had to hide them from my 5 year old or she'd want to use them right away. If I know her, once they're home she'll choose that pink one every time it's clean.

Finally, in case you didn't catch this info in our newsletter I've pasted it bellow... Note: the time is in-fact 1-4PM this Saturday! (not 3PM as I mistakenly announced in the newsletter). 

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SUZY ULTMAN Visits!! Saturday, October 20th from 1-4PM After placing our order for her latest line, Handle with Care, Anita and I delighted at the idea of having Suzy back to the shoppe, little did we know she was thinking the same and emailed us the very next day :) Truly serendipitous! And how lucky are we here in Columbus to have such a talented lady living right down the road!! If you haven't yet met the local designer Suzy Ultman, you really need to come! And if you have, well then you'll want to come again because not only is she lovely but she also brings adorable giveaways of her paper goods and we'll have several bundles of her new fabric line fresh for the winning!!! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Afternoon Tea with Suzy

It's always nice when two to-does can be accomplished at once!

A brief excerpt from my seemingly endless to do list =

To elaborate, two of the things I HAD to do this week were:
1. Introduce the adorable creations of Suzy Ultman, our next guest designer and announce her visit to the shoppe, coming up Saturday, March 12th.
2. Make an anniversary gift for a coffee loving couple, my brother-in-law and his wife.

So in the spirit of killing two birds with one stone, I've set out to check off these two to-does, with this one blog post!

First of all let me just start by telling you how adorable Suzy Ultman's fabrics, papers, softies and illustrations are! Her work is very popular in the paper and craft industry. In fact you may have seen it without even realizing it. Her creations have been published by Chronicle Books and her list of clients rang from Crate & Barrel to Oopsy Daisy and many more.

All 5 images above of Suzy Ultman's work are from http://www.lillarogers.com/artists/suzy-ultman.

Her first two fabric lines for Robert Kaufman are just the tip of the brilliant iceberg which is Suzy's portfolio. She is certainly one to keep an eye on, and I personally can't wait to see what her next fabric line brings!

Suzy Ultman will be at our shoppe Saturday, March 12th  from 2-4PM, for an afternoon visit and trunk show. She'll be bringing samples of her precious work, some great giveaways and a sneak preview of her upcoming fabric line.

Now for my second  P and the reason I can so perfectly combine these two tasks.
Suzy's current fabrics for Kaufman's Metro Cafe collection are all about coffee and there is certainly nothing better suited for my coffee obsessed relatives than these!

Suzy Ultman Tea Towels

For these fun and simple Suzy Ultman Tea Towels I used Robert Kaufman's Essex cotton linen blend, a 45% cotton and 55% linen cloth base and embellished them with raw edge appliqués, stitching and ruffles. The end result is a sweet set of unique towels that I really hope my relatives enjoy.

To make 2 towels you need:

2/3 yard of a cotton/linen cloth, toweling, woven, or twill

1/4 yard of Suzanne Ultman's Espresso Beans

1/4 yard of her Retro Mugs

and 1/4 yard of her Retro Perk

plus 1/4 yard "Wonder Under"
cream and brown thread
and a fabric marker or pencil

Prewash all fabrics (gentle cycle will help prevent fraying).

I made my towels one at a time so I have also written these instructions in the same manner, but for a set of two towels simple follow all instructions 2 times :)

First cut your main fabric (toweling or other) to be 19"x24". Next cut the Espresso Bean print to 36"x4", this will be the bottom ruffle of the towel.

Finish one 36" side of the Bean fabric by ironing down 1/2", reopen, fold raw edge into crease line then refold and iron flat, creating a 1/4" hem, edge-stitch, backstitching at beginning and end. This is now the bottom of the ruffle.

Next sew a gathering stitch along the top edge at 1/4" seam allowance.
Pull bobbin threads and gather until ruffle is 19 inches long.

Attach ruffle to towel with a french seam: Pin ruffle WRONG sides facing to towel material, sew with 1/4" seam allowance, trim to 1/8", iron seam allowance up and then fold ruffle over so that right sides are now facing, pin and sew, backstitching at beginning and end.

Iron ruffle down and seam allowance up toward toweling. Topstitch towel 1/4" above ruffle to keep seam allowance flat, backstitch at beginning and end. Then finish sides of towel the same way as ruffle botton; iron 1/2" to wrong side, unfold, fold raw edge into crease line then refold and iron flat, creating a 1/4" hem, edge-stitch hem in place, backstitching at beginning and end. Hem top of towel the same way.

Now for the fun part!

Cut your Wonder Under to the size of one or more mugs and iron to the wrong side of the Retro Mug fabric. Cut out mugs leaving about 1/16"-1/8" of white all around. Do the same for one or more of the Perkalators.

Play with your appliqué layout. Make some small markings were your mug and coffee pot will go, set them aside, then stitch freely back and forth in brown thread to create a faux bois like surface to rest your mugs on. Next remove the paper backing from your Wonder Undered mug and pot appliqués and replace them on towel, iron to glue in place and finish by stitching around each appliqué 2-3 times.

Voila!

Now have a cup of coffee and enjoy, or wrap them them up with a bag of good beans and gift them to someone who loves their joe.

Anna Maria Horner, from Market to Shoppe

Anna Maria Horner's booth at Quilt Market, Fall 2010

I'm sure I've professed my love for Anna Maria before.. but just in case you've forgotten, "I LOVE Anna Maria Horner!!" In fact we all do. She has been a steady favorite since we first opened our doors. Each of her fabric lines have been just as special as the one before. Her newest line, Innocent Crush is certainly no exception. It is modern and romantic, infused with her brilliant eye for color and print. It is very Anna Maria, with  references to past favorites.

I really enjoy how clearly we can see her progressions in design.

Garden Party

Good Folks

Innocent Crush

Not only do I adore Anna Maria's fabrics but I also truly admire her. Firstly, for continuing to produce amazingly creative work while simultaneously being a mother of six (a fact which leaves me completely baffled)! And secondly, for sharing herself so fearlessly on her blog. Meeting her has shown her to be just as genuine and clever in really life as she is there, not to mention even more beautiful then she looks in photographs.

Speaking of being more beautiful in real life, this too holds true for Innocent Crush. I'll admit it was not love at first sight when we saw the first photographic glimpses of this line, we were a bit unsure, but now having seen the cloth in hand, we have certainly fallen for it. So far we have received 9 of the quilting cottons, five of the home decor weight and three of the luscious velveteens. Bellow are photos of the quilting and home dec weights. I have not had the chance to photographed the velveteens yet.

We hope you delight in them as much as we are and we cannot wait to see what you make with them! As always we encourage you to share with us in our Sew To Speak Flickr group or via Facebook.
Plus Anna has already posted a Flickr group for all things made from Innocent Crush, so be sure to share there too.

♥
April


p.s. You can shop for Innocent Crush and other Anna Maria Horner prints right here! :)

Market Photos: Set 2

Though this post feels long past due, it's truly right on time. 

Photo Set 2 includes all the wonderful Japanese distributors and the awesome Japanese fabrics that we saw at Market. 

Now why is it "right on time?" you might ask.

Because several of these fabrics arrived just TODAY! 

Excited?

I am!

Quilt Market Spring 2010

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Seven Islands

The newest from additions to Far Far Away by Heather Ross 

Gorgeous new prints on double gauze and linen blends, by Nani Iro.

A new fairy tale inspired designer who's name I failed to remember, printed on double gauze.

Fun new excursion inspired designs by Etsuko Furuya, Echino.

Lecien

Me in the Lecien booth, carelessly modeling an adorable sample and caught mid-arm movement! 

Hokkoh LTD 

I believe Hokkoh is a design group working for Lecien, though I am not 100% sure. We got a bit lost in translation?!?

Hoodie for Blank Quilting

Now just to be clear Blank is not a Japanese company but Hoodie is a Japanese designer (not to mention absolutely adorable, super sweet and one of my personal favorites!) So the following is just from Hoodie, none of Blank's other designers.

MoMo for Moda

The same can be said for MoMo as for Hoodie. 

MoMo is an amazingly talented Japanese designer working for an American company. And we just love her. These photo's are of her new line only and none of the other Moda designers.

Want to know what has arrived? Well you'll just have to come in and see ;)

Or you could also sign up/read your upcoming newsletter in which I'll be giving a run down of all Summers First Arrivals!

Happy sunny, summer days to you all!

♥

April