Back from Market with a Free Tutorial!

Hello Friends! 

It was a wonderful market for me this time around...in beautiful Kansas City Missouri! I did not do a booth, so I was free to wander around and visit lots of my dear friends in the fabric industry. Even though I did not do an exhibit, Riley Blake was wonderful about giving me lots of display space in their booth. Here are a few little pictures of what I had there on display...

 This above is our new Raincoat pattern for girls! (tweens)

My fabric collection on display is called Bohemian Festival, and there are two new patterns associated with this collection. The first is the little tween raincoat you see above, in sizes 8-14 for girls called "Chasing Rainbows."

The other is the adorable little "Pack Pack" backpack for kids you can see in the laminated fabric, hanging on the post. Here's another view of that.

 

As you can see there is a laminated cotton/ quilting cotton version and a denim version that would work great for little boys. 

Both of these patterns will be available very shortly at your local quilt shops, or you can order them directly through me. Just send us an email: golightlystudio@gmail.com OR

Lilatuellerdesigns@gmail.com.

The fabric will be on the shelves in June! That's practically here...(!!)

As I promised in the title of this post, I have decided to do a few little tutorials for you from my schoolhouse at market. Schoolhouse is a class that many people in the industry do for market attendees who want a little more up close and personal experience to find out what is new and exciting on the horizon. In my schoolhouse, I featured some ideas for classes that shop owners could do in their shops to interest their customers and get them doing fun and creative things. 

This is one of the ideas that I presented. I will continue to post these little tutorials in the next few weeks, focusing on a different project for each one.

 These I call the Wizard of Oz Jeans. I call them that because I looked at these when they were finished, and I decided that if the munchkins were going to wear jeans, this is what they would look like!

This project uses a technique I call:

Use an old or purchased pair of jeans to start.

That's it! If you want to see these directions up close, just click on the directions to go to a printable page.

You can make the size of your leaves to fit the size of the jeans you are working on. This is just one of several fun ideas I have coming up for you to try!

If you want to see more pictures from quilt market, go to my facebook page and look at the new album of pictures I have posted.

See you soon...

Free Trash Stashers Pattern!

Back again today with the pattern I promised!
If you visited the other day, you saw the little trash bags I created for your car (or whatever)...but the link was not active. But we are ready now...:)
If you want to make these easy-to-sew "Trash Stashers", simply click on the picture above to download the pattern!
Enjoy!

New Free Pattern!

Hello friends...

Do any of you have kids that you haul around in your car? If you do, then you probably also have trash in your car. It's just inevitable. Unless you have highly trained children who never eat in your car, or who never bring their junk with them. Even if you don't have kids, I think it's safe to say that everybody probably could use one of these:

It used to be that I would bring a plastic grocery bag out to the car to bag up the trash people would leave behind. (Never me, of course, just the other people I drive all over town in my car.) But one day I got this idea of a great way to utilize some of my laminated fabrics.

Now I have one in my car, my husband has one in his, and each of my driving children have one in their cars too. I've also given them to some of my neighbors, and my parents...just because I enjoy making them so much. They probably never have trashy cars like mine, but I still think every car needs one.

So I decided to make a little free pattern for anyone who is interested. I call these "Trash Stashers". Anyone can make these! Really.

In the next couple of days I will create a link for you so you can download the instructions to print off your own. It's not a difficult pattern, so if you are a beginner, this is a great pattern for you to try! 

These fabrics shown are from my Bohemian Festival collection, coming out in June! I love the yummy colors, and the fun patterns in this collection, and I have been busy sewing like crazy with it! I've yet to take pictures of all the fun things I have made...but I'll get them up for you soon! The laminates are rich and colorful...so fun to work with! 

I'm on my way to quilt market in two days...in Kansas City! I will try to get the pattern up before I go.

Check back soon!

It's Always Best To Sleep on it First

You know when you've behaved rashly when you have regrets halfway into the "falling asleep" phase of the night. It happens to me all the time. I feel fine about something I've said or done, until I try to fall asleep. That's when I get hit with the... "I probably could have handled that better" thoughts, or the dreaded... "I should have said THIS instead."

Most of the time this sort of thing could be avoided entirely if I would just go to sleep first, before doing/saying that thing I would regret later. 

Maybe it happens to everyone...maybe it's just me.

All I know is the few people who read my blog post last night read it before I had a chance to sleep on it first. I should have known I would regret that one. As soon as the regret set in, just as I was going to sleep, I jumped out of bed and deleted the post:)

To those of you who read it: I do not condone premarital sex. Never have, never will. Call me old fashioned, call me archaic, call me whatever you want. But I think it's a bad idea.

To those of you who were lucky enough not to have read it: I was talking about a movie I saw, which happened, at one point,  to depict an unmarried couple participating in said activity, although not explicitly (it was a PG 13).

 

Now the rest of the post was just me having a little fun. It was totally harmless in that respect. But although I never mentioned the fact that this activity was alluded to in the movie, simply not mentioning it probably made it look like I was condoning it. I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea about me. 

Let me just add that I am a person who appreciates beauty, in all it's forms. I appreciate all of Gods creations. (Well, I do have a hard time with some of the creepy ones, but other than that...)

I hope that will clarify the situation for those of you who read the post. In the future, I will get a good night's sleep before I post. Just as a precaution!

That's all I have to say about that!

Hope you are all doing well...keeping busy...making others smile along the way!

XO,

Found: My (quilt) top!

 So I decided to clean out my sewing/laundry room. I know...you thought I had a much larger space to work in. But no. I work in this little place that's supposed to stay organized like this all the time, but I could never keep it like this during pre-market madness...which is just around the corner. I decided it would be best if I at least had a clean start this time. 

 Doesn't it look nice?

Anyway...so after I organized everything, I made the quilt top that I posted about recently. The one that looks like this:

I had folded it up and put it on the counter top by the row of fabric bolts, figuring I would get it machine quilted and bound when I got back from my trip, to post about on the blog. But when I came home, it was nowhere to be found. I grilled all of my children, individually under hot lights. Each person was cross examined over and over, because I was sure someone had done something terrible to it, and thrown it in the trash (which was hauled away) so I would not find the evidence. I resorted to cruel prisoner of war tactics, threatening to do all sorts of...things to them. (not really, but I was pretty upset)

So then my husband intervenes. He says to me: "What will you do for me if I find it?" I look around sheepishly, trying to think of something that would satisfy him without making me work too hard. We decided on a foot massage, (or something like that). He disappeared into my sewing room for a few minutes, and then emerged looking all pleased with himself while hiding something behind his back. "You found it!?" I said..."Where? Where was it? Did you hide it from me?" He then shows me the quilt top, still neatly folded. 

I tore that room apart. It was not in there. I swear on my favorite sweatpants that it was not in the sewing room.

He says he found it behind the bolts of fabric, sandwiched between them and the window. 

Now how did he think to look there? This never happens, mind you. He never finds anything. I am the one who miraculously finds things that no one can find. Not him. So this was like the biggest event of the century for him. He is going to lord this over me for years to come.

Not to mention the ridiculous "foot massage" I am going to have to somehow get out of.

More to come on the quilt...

Goodbye Cabo...

I guess all good things must come to an end. 

Ain't it the truth?? (I actually believe there are a few good things that never end. But that's a topic for another day!)

I just returned from a lovely time with friends in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. It was truly refreshing and relaxing.

We stayed in the same lovely home (owned by our good friends Jackie and Kirk) that we have stayed in before. You may remember it from posts past...

 
 These, above are shots of the interior main floor. They don't do justice to the space at all. I wish I had taken a better shot of the domed brick ceilings! 


And these next three are shots off the veranda, catching in a bit of the pool, and down to the beach which is breaking just about 50-100 or so feet below.

 

 Once again, the camera can't do it any justice. The view is absolutely breathtaking! And to hear the waves crash below as you sit by the pool is simply beyond mesmerizing.


 This, below is a shot off the breakfast deck, showing Kirk, Jackie, and my husband Hal relaxing in the pool. It was the PERFECT temperature.

   

 Hot tub...

 A view of the interesting architecture on the rooftop of one of the homes below, nestled into the rocks on the shore.

 

 This stretch of beach is just to the right from where I stood on the veranda, looking out over the Pacific. It is the same stretch of sand where the movie "TROY" was filmed. Or close to it.

And this is (a very fuzzy) picture of my friends Carrie in black, myself in the middle, and Jackie in the purple...her signature color!

Anyway...I'm sure I could put up more pics, but I did not want to bore you all to tears with my travelogue.

It was a great getaway for Hal and me, all thanks to our dear friends who invited us there to stay! I am grateful for such blessings in my life. The friendships are the most important part of all of it, of course. They make it all so much more fun!

Thanks again Jackie and Kirk, and Carrie and David, for a wonderful trip! 

Now back to the quilts I have to finish!! Remember those?

I'll keep you posted...

Sewing Fever

Hello All...

Today, well a few days ago... I got the hankering to make a quilt. Quite honestly, that doesn't happen often, like it should, because I am too busy doing other things to support myself in the "quilting industry" to have time to think much about making a quilt. But, it happened. I realized that my son Cade, who is 24 and going to school and working and living in an apartment with roommates, did not have his own quilt for his bed. Blankets, yes. But not a quilt that I had made for him. For shame!! What kind of mother am I???

(Now I will have to make quilts for all of my other kids too...)

So I thought of what I would choose if I were to make him a quilt. I got online for inspiration. (None of my own fabrics would work, as you can imagine.)

After perusing around a bit, I decided upon this group of fabrics from Ty Pennington's Impressions collection for Free Spirit. (love Ty...he's such a big heart...)

I picked them out because Cader boy is a blue boy. He has beautiful blue eyes, and always looks quite handsome whenever he wears that color, if I do say so myself.

(This is Cade...wish he had on a blue shirt so I could show you what I mean.)



Look how he is trying to be happy even though he doesn't have his own quilt:)

...Of course the grey-green fabric adds contrast, and I love that, so I added them into the mix. I put them into my shopping cart, and made the purchase. But when they arrived, I realized I may not have bought enough fabric. Story of my life. So I did what any seasoned sewer does and I utilized my "stash". 

Would-ya-looky-here what I found in and amongst the feminine fabrics of all kinds...

These  two wonderful beach inspired cottons were right there staring me down! I grabbed them greedily and combined them with my collection.

The result was just about perfect, as if I had planned it.

 

So now I am ready to go. If you are like me, you don't want to waste a lot of time wondering what quilt design you are going to do. So I just imagined up something in my little brain, and came up with what I decided was going to be perfect for Cade. He's not the kind of kid who looks comfortable sitting there cleaning his gun in a log cabin. And I wouldn't exactly call him the modern man either...he's just simple. Straight forward. Not trying to be any certain style. I had to design a simple quilt, and although I am sure there is probably this very design out there somewhere, I will claim it as my own because I want to;)

At least I hope it will be super fast and easy.

This quilt will be about 57"x 88" when finished, if my calculations are correct. (Don't laugh)

I'm starting this tomorrow (Friday). I'd like to involve you all in the process. 

Let me just make this one disclaimer:

I have never said that I was a great quilter. In fact, quilting is something I have only dabbled in here and there... and I never took a class, so don't judge me! This is so that any of you who are novices like me can feel OK about sort of stumbling through a quilt project, because you have lots of company! If you are a pro, try to keep your criticism to a minimum;) Thank you.

I have created a few very simple steps for myself to follow. This is done in the manner that my brain operates. If it does not make sense to you, just...consider the source, and write your own directions!

(The easy steps are on the left, and my explanations are on the right.)

...So I chose my 10 fabrics. I'm going to wash my quilt after it is all finished, so I won't pre-shrink.

I am going to make myself a template from template plastic to make this process easier. Since I need 54 squares to make the quilt, I am going to cut 6 10" squares from each of my 10 fabrics. That will give me 60 squares; leaving me some extra squares in case I need more of something. I think it will help me to match colors how I want them. Besides, its easier to just cut six of everything.

Since I will have some left over, maybe I will make a pillow sham to match!

                                           

I am thinking I will stack about 4 squares at a time, and lay them on my cutting mat, lined up  neatly with a vertical line so I can lay my ruler about 4" from the top left edge, and at about 4" from the bottom right edge. You can change the angle as you wish, but be sure you cut all your squares at the same angle. Now I'm going to repeat that process till all of my squares have been sectored. (I like that word)  

  Now comes the fun part... or the part that drives you crazy...depending on your point of view.

Mix up the sectors in all the ways you can think of, and then again and again till you have used up all your stuff. Stitch them diagonally, right sides facing each other, in 1/4" seams, and press the seams to one side.

 This is what they should look like, pretty much. Except I just realized that now it won't be a perfect square anymore. It will be taller than it is wide. I really hope that won't matter(!)

My little brain won't know that till I make this for-reals.

Now lay them out on the floor or a table, and arrange them into 9 rows of 6 across. Work with it until you have a pleasing arrangement. (That's the part that will drive us crazy...or be tons of fun:)

I'm hoping I won't have to use my seam ripper! 

Set your extras aside.

Remember to make it look like the picture up above, or I guess you can arrange them however you darn well want to! Luckily this is not a science project, and I won't be grading you on it:)

I am going to share my top when it's finished, and I don't want to hear any snickering.
Stitch the blocks together in order into horizontal rows. Press seams all one way. Now stitch the rows together till you have it all stitched up.

OK. This last step is the part where we lose lots of would be quilters...where millions of finished tops disappear into the quilting "black hole" of the universe. Don't go there! Finish the darn quilt!! I am speaking to myself here...in the future...because as of yet this is all in theory.

When I get to this point, I will describe to you the process that takes us from quilt top to finished quilt. I will not fail you...it will happen.

So that is my great plan! I would love to have some of you accompany me...if you want to make a similar quilt for fun, or for someone special. Gather your supplies, and I'll see you after I've stitched some blocks!

XO,

UPDATE!

One of my brilliant commenters suggested that I add 1/2" to the width of the square so now it will be 10 1/2" W x 10" L. I had thought of the same thing last night while I lay in bed, so I guess that's that!

Going to the store right now to get the template plastic I need before I start cutting. Gonna pick up a nice backing fabric and something for the binding too while I'm there. I have a gi-normous roll of cotton quilt batting in my studio, so I don't need that.

Ready-set-go!
After I have a diet coke.

UPDATE!  (again) 

Here is the picture of my finished top! It did not take that long... I started cutting last night, laid it out and arranged the rows, stayed up sewing for a couple of hours, and finished it this morning in about another 1/2 hour. 
I ended up adding a couple more fabric options, and looking at it now, i can see things I would change,  but over-all it's great! 
It was randomly arranged, but I think I would like to see it done in a different way. Maybe next time;)
 

Announcing the winners of my giveaway contest!!

Hello everyone! As I said on my facebook post today, this is always a difficult decision for me: choosing just a few winners from all of the wonderful and kind comments I received! Therefore...I decided to add more winners in a few of the categories!!

I have already chosen some winners from my facebook commenters, but I also have a list of winners from my blog entrants. (That's you.)

So here we go!

Pattern Pack winners:

Suburban Stitcher!!!

Trillium!!

Bag-O'-Scraps Winners:

Colorado Lady!!!

Mean Sarah Jean!!!

Retro Groovy Bag Winner: (facebook entrant: Anna McCurdy!!!)

Snazzy Bag pattern and Soire'e Honeybun winner:

Tiffany!!!

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF THE WINNERS!!

Please email me your mailing addresses so I can get your prizes to you!

Email: Lilatuellerdesigns@gmail.com

Thanks again to everyone who entered! I love you all:)

Have a great Valentine's Day on the 14th!!

Giveaway Time!!

Hello everyone!
If you came over from my FB page, welcome! Today I'm doing a giveaway!!
Here's what I'm gifting to random commenters to this post:

1) 1 Pattern Pack: includes Metro Bag, London Peasant Top/Dress for Women, The Stella Skirt, and the Sophisticate Skirt

 

2) 1 Bag-O'-Scraps: includes lots of my fabric scraps and cuts from my studio!
 (I don't have a picture for this, you will just have to trust me:)

3) 1 Retro "Groovy" Bag handmade by me. (Actual bag, not the pattern)

4) 1 impossible to find "Honey Bun" from my "Soire'e" Collection and a Snazzy Bag pattern to go with it.

 
That's the whole enchilada.
So...that means there will be four winners!!! Yes, that's right. But wait! There's more...if you call now we'll throw in a...
just kidding:)

Please comment either here, or on the facebook page. Here's that link.
Good Luck!!!