Artisan Blog Tour, Day 3 - Bring on the Bags, and a Giveaway!!

Hi, all!

Welcome to the third (and final!) day of my part of the Artisan blog tour!  It's been a wild ride, helping FreeSpirit Fabrics launch Kaffe Fassett's newest line (available in stores in November - hooray!)  Isn't that picture at the top beautiful?  Brandon Mably posted that on Facebook yesterday from Quilt Market, and I couldn't resist using it.  All those gorgeous fabrics!!

I've shown you a table cover, a quilt, a couple of pillows, and a maker mat - now it's time to show you the bags I made using some of the Artisan fabrics!

First up is this fun, bright bag!  The outside of the bag is made using three different batiks in the Sunny color way.  The chevron print is so cool, with its shading of colors across the fabric.  And the wide stripes I used for the straps were just perfect!  I'm kind of fond of the checkerboard batik, too - the geometric feel of these three work well together.  

I added the dark blue ties on the sides to bring out the blue in the center.  It's lined with a fabulous big circle print from the Artisan line, and the pockets inside (you can never have too many pockets!) are the same circle print in a different color way.  The pattern for this bag is McCall's M6905.

But the next bag is my absolute favorite!  I have to admit, once I finished this one, I put it on my shoulder and I've used it ever since.  I'm going to be a sad, sad girl when it wears out!!

For this bag, I used a free pattern from Lecien Fabrics called the 1 Yard Magic Hobo Bag that I found on this blog.  Using the pattern as a starting point, I made some adjustments to create this eclectic bag.  I cut four different pieces of fabric to create the outside of the bag, creating a quartered piece.  I used a piece of the Artisan ikat fabrics, the plaid, for the interior.  I also added a piece of interlining, a fairly stiff loose-weave canvas, and sewed the three pieces together, turning it right-side out and pressing well.  I then treated it as a solid piece of fabric for the rest of the construction process.  I did make the straps wider, too, and added interlining to those too.  But here's my favorite part...

Look at that fabulous tassel!!  I was digging through a box of "stuff" in my studio one day and came across the leather tassel, one I had salvaged from a purse years and years ago.  Dug a little more and found a box of great beads in colors similar to those in the purse fabrics, so I threaded them onto the leather strips!  Now I jingle when I walk!  There are woven leather buttons on top that I can loop the tassel around if I want to secure the purse closed, too.  But usually just the weight of the tassel is enough to keep it from gapping open.

Isn't it gorgeous?  And it will hold a ridiculous amount of stuff if I need it to, but not look overly large if I'm down to a bare minimum in it.  This was a super simple pattern to make, even with the changes I made, and would make a great gift.  I highly recommend it!

So that's the end of my projects to help launch Kaffe Fassett's new fabric line, Artisan!  Although I don't think it will be the end of my sewing with them - the fabrics are so pretty, you'll see them cropping up in projects in the future!  Watch for it to come out in the fabric shops sometime in November.....

And now for the last giveaway!  I have one more jelly roll of Kaffe Fassett shot cottons for one lucky commenter...

...and, since it's still my birthday weekend, let's throw in one more giveaway....

...I'll draw one final winner and send her this bag!  Here's how you enter:

1.

Leave a comment and confess - are you an early Christmas decorator, a "not-until-after-Thanksgiving" decorator, a "Christmas-Eve-and-I'm-still-putting-stuff-out" decorator, or a "bah-humbug, who needs decorations" decorator?

2.

If you're a follower of this blog, leave another comment for an extra entry!

That's it, easy-peasy!  You can enter the giveaway until noon on Thursday, November 3rd, and I'll announce all the winners on Friday, November 4th.  And remember, there's still time to enter the giveaway from Friday and Saturday!  Entering all three giveaways gives you a chance at one of six different prizes - don't miss out!

Thank you so much for joining me for this blog tour - it's been a blast reading all your comments and has really added to my joy in being part of it all!

Hugs!

Sarah

Artisan Blog Tour, Day 2 - Moroccan Tiles, Bonus Pillows, and a Giveaway!

Hi, all!

Welcome to the second day of my turn on the Artisan blog tour!  Artisan is a new line of fabrics coming out in November by the fabulous Kaffe Fassett for Free Spirit Fabrics.  As I said yesterday, I had so much fun with this beautiful pile of fabric...

...that I couldn't cram it all into one blogpost!  So today I'm going to share a few more things I created incorporating the second color way in this beautiful line of quilting cottons, batiks and ikats from Kaffe Fassett and Free Spirit Fabrics!  Just so you can see all of the fabrics in the Blue color way, here's a wonderful shot from the Artisan brochure...

Such gorgeous, rich colors!  Quilting cottons on the left, batiks in the center, and ikats on the right.  They play wonderfully with the Sunny color way, too, as I'll show you in just a minute.  

When I was asked to help with the launch of Artisan back in July, my mind was whirling with possibilities - especially because they put very few restrictions on what we could do!  And of course, my mind always goes to quilts....

...and with the strong bohemian vibe of these fabrics, I keep envisioning the beautiful ceramic tiles of Morocco.  I paired quilting cottons and batiks in both the Sunny color way and the Blue color way with some vibrant tangerine Kona cotton to create this vivid quilt.

It's a smaller lap size - 48" x 60" - and I've written a tutorial if you are interested.  Just request it in a comment below and I'll send you a PDF version.

In the making of this quilt, I also created some bonus HSTs which I used to make the pillow shown above.  Don't you just love bonus HSTs?   I still have a mess of them - I see more pillows in my future!

Here's a closer shot of the pillow - I embellished it with large stitch quilting in a variegated perle cotton and did a knife edge binding around the edge to continue the look of the small borders.

But wait - - - that's not all!  I had scraps left over from the table cover, too, so I put them together in another pillow cover...

I'm really fond of this one - I love the wild variety of fabrics it contains, and I did large stitch embellishment on this one, too, varying the distance between the vertical lines of stitching for a random feel.  This pillow make me smile!

Looks like a cozy little place to set a spell, doesn't it?  This was taken by the side of an old smokehouse on our property - it is my first time to use it as a photo shoot location, but I don't think it will be the last!  It makes a great backdrop for quilts!

I hope you've hung in there this long - because now it's time for the giveaway part of our program!  Remember this pretty stack?

Your comment today will put you in the running for one of those lovely jelly rolls of Kaffe Fassett's shot cottons!  And because it's my birthday, I'm going to sweeten the pot for a second winner... do you see the mat underneath my sewing machine in the background?

Here's what the other side looks like.  Inspired by Lillyella Stitchery's Undercover Maker Mat, I made this using some Artisan fabrics combined with some other Kaffe Fassett prints I had hoarded stashed away.  Look how nicely they play together!!!  I'll be sending this to a second winner chosen from today's comments (without all my tools - sorry!! I need those!)

So how do you enter?  It's easy!  Just leave a comment below, and in it, tell us your favorite birthday surprise!  

I'll start it off - one year, based on a random comment from me, my husband gave me a Suzuki Samurai that our local bank had repo'd.  Total surprise!  When I asked him why, he said, "Because you said it was cute!"  It replaced our broken down and ancient Plymouth Fury, so it was a welcome gift - and a totally romantic one!

Please please please leave your email address in your comment, particularly if you want a copy of the tutorial!  So many people are no-reply bloggers these days, mostly through no fault of their own - I think there's a conspiracy going on out there! And if you don't feel comfortable putting your email address out in public, feel free to email me at salliesue57 (at) gmail (dot) com to let me know.  

And remember - there's another giveaway tomorrow, and still time to enter yesterday's giveaway!  It's just a big birthday giveaway weekend around here!!  Entries will remain open for all three giveaways until noon CST Thursday, November 3rd, and I'll announce all the winners in my whoop whoop post next Friday, November 4th.

Tomorrow I'll be sharing a couple of bags I made using these wonderful fabrics - hope to see you then!!

Hugs!

Sarah

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Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? My Turn on the Artisan Blog Tour, and Giveaways!!

Hi, all!

It's Friday!!!  And as we all know by now, that means it's time for us to get our whoop whoop on!  Time to encourage each other, show off our current projects (whether finished or not), and just binge on all the gorgeous eye candy that's out there in the blogiverse!  And hey - it's a lot less fattening than candy corn!!  I'm excited to get started - so let's go!!

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One of the first ASL signs my grandchildren learned was the sign for "my turn" and we saw that one a lot.  Well, I feel like that today - because it's finally "my turn" on the Kaffe Fassett Artisan blog tour!!!  Back in July when Nancy at Westminster Fabrics contacted me about participating, I jumped on the chance to play with new fabrics from Kaffe Fassett - I mean, who wouldn't?  So when this glorious stack of fabric showed up at my house....

...I went into planning mode.  These fabrics just scream Boho Chic to me, so I began lots of research (insert window-shopping and Pinterest browsing here) to find the specific details that made up the style I was looking for.  And I discovered that I couldn't stop at just one project!  So I'm actually going to post for the next three days (coincidentally lining right up with the International Quilt Market 2016 and #missingmarket) to share all of my creations with you - and guess what? There will be a giveaway for each day!  It's my birthday weekend and I want to celebrate it with all of you!!  So be sure to check back in Saturday 10/29 and Sunday 10/30 and participate in all three giveaways for your best chances.

OK - on to the eye candy!!

My main focus for this fabric was the beautiful Sunny color way - primarily oranges, reds, yellows and pinks with just a touch of some cooler colors.  There are quilting cottons (the 9 on the left), batiks (in the center) and ikats (the four on the left).  We were asked to try and mix all three types of fabric in our creations, but other than that, what we made was completely up to us.

I started with this inspiration picture...

...and came up with a pieced table cover design that I really love!

On the table...

...and laid out so you can see it in all its glory!

 To complement the bohemian vibe of these fabrics, I added fringe to the bottom edge, and did some large stitch embellishment using perle cotton.

 

The colors in these fabrics are so beautiful, vibrant and saturated, and the batiks and quilting cottons play well together.  I just noticed that I didn't incorporate any of the ikats into this piece, but you will see them in the other projects I show over the next couple of days.

This table cover is just about 63" across at its widest point (66" if you count the fringe), and could be used on a larger table than the one I've shown it on.  My version has cotton batting in it, and I probably would change that in my next attempt - it's not quite as crisp as I would like it to be - but it would be great for protecting a tabletop from hot dishes.

 I've written a tutorial for the table cover, which can also be made as a tree skirt - if you'd like a PDF copy, mention it in a comment below and be sure to leave your email address so I can send it to you!

Be sure to check back in tomorrow when I'll share more about the pillows and quilt in this picture!

And now on to the fun part - the GIVEAWAY!!!  

Take a look at all those goodies that Westminster Fabrics sent to help us all celebrate the release of Artisan!  Today there will be two winners - one for the 20-fat quarter bundle of Kaffe Fassett classics, and one for a jelly roll of shot cottons.  Here's how to enter!  Choose one, some, or all options...

1.  Leave a comment below, answering the question left by the commenter before you. I'll start it off with this one:  

Which do you steal out of your kids' Halloween basket - 

Candy corn, or chocolate?

2.  Link up to the Whoop Whoop Friday linky party for a second entry.  No need to leave a comment for this one, I'll get your entry from the linky list.

3.  Are you a follower of this blog?  Leave a comment letting me know how you follow!

Your comments today will enter you in the giveaway for today's two items, and you can enter today's giveaway until noon CST Thursday, November 3rd.  I'll draw all the winners and announce them on Friday, November 4th.  Be sure to come back tomorrow and Sunday to see some more gorgeous Artisan fabrics and for two more opportunities to win!!

So - - - can I get a WHOOP WHOOP??

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And now it's your turn!

What's got you whooping it up this week?

What's making you dance a little happy dance?

Share!  We want to dance right along with you - 

And it's always more fun to dance with friends!

Remember - it doesn't have to be a finish,

just something you're happy to have accomplished!

The party will stay open until Wednesday, November 2nd.

Hope to see you there!

Hugs!

Sarah

PS - want to see more of the beautiful Artisan creations in this blog tour?  Here's the schedule:

9/23/16   http://www.simplesimonandco.com/

9/30/16  http://craftsanity.com/

10/7/16  http://100billionstars.com/

10/14/16  http://www.bijoulovelydesigns.com/

10/21/16  http://mrsschmenkmanquilts.wordpress.com/

10/28/16  http://confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com/

11/4/16  http://www.sarahfielke.com/

I May Have A Scrap Problem... October in Review and Next Goals!

Hi, all!

It's hard to believe, but October is nearly over!  I've always looked forward to the end of October because it's my birthday (Saturday!) but also because it seems to mark the beginning of the holiday season.  Now I'm like, "EEK!" because the holidays are coming up so fast.  How about you?

I did manage to make some scrappy progress this month, though - hooray!!  The most important project for the month was the memory quilt made from mens' ties...

...and that one is finished and ready to be delivered tonight!  I love the way this one turned out - I just wish I felt safe in washing it so it would be nice and soft.  But I'm worried about the different fabrics, so I'll be handing it over unwashed.

Lilli's annual quilt was also on my list, and I did manage to get some of the smallest blocks made and laid out on my design wall.

I need to make some of the photo blocks so I can begin to pull the sections together (my design wall isn't wide enough to lay out the whole quilt before sewing it up), but when I went to print out the pictures, my printer failed me and put a white line across the pictures.  Thankfully I printed them on paper first!  So now I have a new printer and will be printing those today.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get around to playing with the Latitude scraps this month, although I think I know what I want to do with them.  I think they will have to wait, though.  Christmas is nearly upon us!!

I am thankful for early mornings, though - I got up in the dark this morning and put the orange peel quilt on the frame, and now it's finished!!

This is what this quilt looked like at 6 am this morning... some pretty free-motion quilting!  There's so much negative space on this quilt that I felt like I needed to do something a bit more than just a random meander.

The quilting took a while, but by 10 am I had a finished quilt - binding and all!  

Here's a better shot of the quilting in the orange peel segments.  They were fun to do!

I  love this backing, too - not least because it was already in my stash!  The colors are so pretty, though, and just perfect for fall.

And here's one last shot of this quilt before we move on to other things.  Just because it's pretty!  This is another quilt for #sewmystash2016...

Speaking of pretty things, take a look at these Hole In The Barn Door blocks from Chantal's blog, At The Corner of Scrap and Quilts...

I really love this creative use of those tiny scraps we just can't bear to throw away!  This one is definitely going on my bucket list...

And now for November!  Here's what I would like to get done this month... Obviously, Lilli's quilt is a huge scrap buster, and also needs to be finished in time for Christmas, so this is probably my top priority. I also have three other quilts to make before Christmas, (unfortunately not scrappy ones!) so I think Lilli's quilt will be my only scrappy goal for November.  If I finish that early, I may start to work on those Latitude scraps, though, as a Christmas gift to myself!!

How did you do on your scrappy goals for October?  What are you planning for November?  I hope you'll link up and share what you're doing to tame this scrap monster...

... because I think he's looking a little more domesticated these days, don't you?

Hugs!

Sarah

Make-A-List Monday - Feeling Fall!

Hi, all!

Hello, and welcome to Monday Tuesday!  I had every intention of posting this Monday night, but sat down on the sofa and just couldn't keep my eyes open.  Finally gave up and went to bed, so now I'm posting early in the morning!  Last week went by in a blur, and the weekend even faster - but it's finally getting cool around here, which is a welcome change.  It's starting to feel like quilting season - good thing, too!  Let's see how last week's list went...

1.  Deep clean the house before my LuLaRoe pop-up party. (We won't go into exactly what that entails, just know that I won't be enjoying any of it!)

Done!  And I didn't enjoy any of it, although I do like having a nice clean house!  The party went great, we introduced some friends to super-comfy LuLaRoe clothes, and I even brought home a new outfit or two - sweet!!  Y'all, if you haven't heard about LuLaRoe yet, you should - you look great in them, but feel like you're wearing your pajamas!

Clean closet floor - that hasn't seen the light of day in a while!

2.  Assemble the memory quilt blocks.

3.  Make a back for the memory quilt.

Done!  The quilt is assembled, the back is made, and it's on the frame ready to be quilted!

4.  Scope out photo shoot locations for my stop on 

the Artisan blog tour.

5.  If the leaves turn this weekend, take my photos for 

the Artisan blog tour!

Done! Well, at least part - I did scope out some great photo shoot locations.  The leaves haven't turned yet, so I had to resort to making my own fall color - silk leaves stitched to jute cord for a banner!  I hope this works as well as I think it will... we shall see!

6.  Keep up with any quilt ministry needs that come up!

Done - it was a fairly simple week - we gave this quilt to a woman who was in a bad car accident this week and is dealing with a severe brain injury...

...and these twelve quilts are going with a chaplain for the Billy Graham foundation for disaster relief in South Carolina.

So that's how my week went.  But now - only two months until Christmas! (*EEK*) it's time to buckle down and get to work.  Here's my plan for this week...

1.  Quilt and bind the tie memory quilt.

2.  Print the photos for Lilli's annual quilt.

3.  Photo shoot for my Artisan blog tour post (THIS FRIDAY!)

4.  Bind and wash a half dozen quilts for the quilt ministry.

5.  Finish writing the tutorial for the Artisan post.

6.  Cut out a Christmas gift quilt.

7.  Start working on Emmy's annual quilt.

8.  Start working on Nathanael's annual quilt.

9.  Keep up with any quilt ministry needs that come up.

There's probably a dozen more things that I need to be working on, but I think these are the most important ones.  As you can probably tell from the disordered list, I'm kind of scattered this week - I'm going to have to nail down a priority on each of these!  But hopefully I can get something done on all of these, and maybe more.

So now the question is - - - what are YOU working on this week?

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Progress!!

Hi, all!

Welcome to another Friday!!  It's been a long week but the end is here, and you know what that means - it's time to get our whoop whoop on!  Have cooler temperatures put you in the mood for creating wonderful treasures?  I keep hoping it will get cooler here, and it's supposed to this weekend, but it was 92 here yesterday - so I've been staying inside and trying to keep cool!!  But I have something to share today, so let's get started!

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As you may have seen earlier on the blog, I've been working on a memory quilt for a man using his father's old ties.  

It takes a lot of time to take all those ties apart and cut them into usable pieces.  These ties were silk, silk/poly blend, and polyester.

One hundred simple string blocks!  There is a kite-shaped piece of dark quilting cotton in the center diagonally from corner to corner, and then strings of different widths are applied on either side of the centerpiece.  The blocks are then trimmed up to 6.5".

Assembling the quilt goes a lot faster than making the blocks!  I put this top together in a few hours spread over two afternoons...             

 It was just a little bit windy....

...but I did get some pretty close-ups...

I love the way all the tie prints play together!

The varied colors give the diamonds a lot of depth, don't they?

And one more shot, just because it's pretty!

I'll be quilting this one over the weekend - I can't wait to give it to the man who commissioned it for his mother!

So - - - can I get a whoop whoop?

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And it's also time for another stop on the Artisan blog tour!  Today's blog is Mrs. Schmenkman Quilts and my-oh-my does she have a beautiful thing for you to drool over!  Here's just a tiny peek at her creation...

Isn't that gorgeous?  You really must hop over and check out the whole thing!  She's having a giveaway of some great Kaffe fabrics, too, so be sure and throw your name in the hat!

And be sure to come by here next Friday, when it will be MY TURN!!  I'm so excited - it's also my birthday weekend, and I'll be doing a little celebrating and some giveaways too!!  I've got lots of beautiful things to share with you, and maybe even a tutorial or two!  See you then!!

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And now it's your turn!

What's got you whooping it up this week?

What's making you dance a little happy dance?

Share - we want to dance right along with you - 

And it's always more fun to dance with friends!

The party will stay open until Sunday midnight.

Hope to see you there!

Hugs!

Sarah