Quilting: From Little Things is the first solo book from well-known author, designer, and quiltmaker extraordinaire Sarah Fielke. I, like many of you, fell in love with Sarah’s work through her Material Obsession books. I was excited to see what she went out and did on her own. Goodness, it’s spectacular!

Sarah’s amazing fabric combinations, color recipes, and clever twists on traditional techniques make Quilting: From Little Things an inspiring and practical book on how to make quilts. The quilt designs come bundled with well-told personal stories, easy-to-follow instructions and a sprinkling of heart and soul that leave you wanting to immediately start pulling fabric from your stash and planning a quilt from the book!

Organized by technique, the projects progress as follows: Row by Row, Strip Piecing, Desconstructed Piecing, Applique with Bias Strips, Inset Piecing, Needle-Turn Applique, Using Wedges, Step-Down Piecing, and Feathered Blocks.

Each technique is demonstrated by two projects: a dolly quilt (LOVE her use of that term) and a full-sized quilt. The dolly quilts allow you to move in slowly, play with fabric combinations, and learn the technique while at the same time finishing a small project suitable for use as a wall hanging, pillow cover, or doll quilt.

Think the dolly quilt looks just like the big quilt? Of course not. Sarah would never stand for such nonsense. She mixes it up in a way that each quilt in the book stands on its own batting. Very fun. Above is the Rebel with a Rotary Dolly Quilt next to the Sandwich Short of  a Picnic full-sized quilt. Both appear in the Strip Piecing section.

Sarah shares wonderful peeks into her quilting philosophy, process, and fabric combining. I liked the inclusion of why she thought the color combinations were successful on the quilts in the book. It allowed me to see things I might not have noticed otherwise.

Her advice on buying fabrics: “Buy fabrics because you love them and because they make your heart sing, not because they have a specific purpose.” This girl loves her stash and her references to it will make you laugh.

Geese Around the World demonstrates Flying Geese construction and Foundation Piecing.

On display in Sarah’s Fall 2011 Quilt Market booth: The Night Garden hanging to the left, Whirligig center, and dolly quilt Spring on the right.

“… every quilt you make should be an adventure, and every new project should be a project in self-awareness and discovery.” Sarah’s heart and passion for quilts and the process of making them leaps from the pages of Quiltmaking: From Little Things. It’s such a personal and engaging book, it left me feeling inspired and motivated to think about my quilts in a fresh way and reminded me how much joy I get from the process itself. Having some new techniques to learn with such kind and expert guidance is icing on the cake.

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Many of the people on this blog tour made projects from the book (yes, the book really makes you want to do that and if I hadn’t started so late I’d have something to show too!). You can visit them here:

Monday 28th November: Fat Quarterly and Amy Ellis

Tuesday 29th November: Thomas Knauer

Wednesday 30th November: Camp Follower Bags and Ryan Walsh

Thursday 1st December: The Happy Zombie and Moda Lissa

Friday 2nd December: Mrs Schmenkman Quilts and True Up

Saturday 3rd December: Pink Chalk Studio (yay, you’re here!) and Pam Kitty Morning

Sunday 4th December: Sew Mama Sew and Pat Sloan

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Little Bits Quilting Bee: 20 Quilts Using Charm Squares, Jelly Rolls, Layer Cakes, and Fat Quarters by Kathreen Ricketson is packed with fresh, modern ideas for using pre-cut fabric packs.

As the founder of WhipUp.net, Kathreen has a keen view of online quilting trends and activities going on around the world. The book includes a forward section on Community Quilting covering friendship quilts, quilt alongs, swaps and virtual quilting bees.

Organized by type of pre-cut, the book includes twin to king-size quilts, wall hangings, crib quilts, and throws along with a difficulty level assigned to each project.

Constructivist is my FAVORITE quilt in the book, I love how several of the triangles fall out of line and the quilt pattern mimics the woodgrain print! and it’s made with Charm Squares, fabulous!

Rhombus is a fun use of 2 1/2″ strips.

Dress Circle features layer cakes in two ways – both as a background and as applique circles. There were several projects in the book that utilize that technique and it got me thinking creatively about the color and texture that approach adds to a project.

The final chapter features some fabulous quilts made with Fat Quarters.

Little Bits Quilting Bee is a lovely book with colorful images and great ideas for using pre-cuts that many of us have in our stash or could easily create from our scrap bins. It’s sure to inspire your use of these small bits of fabrics in new and creative ways.

Kathreen has a round up of all the blog tour stops at WhipUp.net. The post also includes images of the completed Friendship Quilt she talks about in the book. Very inspiring!

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Leave a comment sharing your favorite type of pre-cut or tricks you have for creating your own. I’ll announce a book winner on Saturday.

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I first met Candy when she volunteered to test the Note Taker pattern oh so many years ago (May of 2007 to be exact!). Candy was an awesome contributor to that pattern and has been a friend ever since. I’ve watched her successfully pursue her passion for fabric dyeing and art making and I’m so excited to be writing here today about the release of her first DVD!

Fabric dyeing is something I’ve always watched from the sidelines. I’ve bought plenty of other people’s work and enjoyed sewing with it but never jumped into the actual tub of doing it myself. I found the DVD extremely captivating and Candy’s style of teaching accessible and easy to understand.

I will also say I’ve never watched a Quilting Arts Workshop DVD before. Where have I been!? Wow, talk about a class in a box. Every detail of the process is presented step by step, beginning with how to dye single colors and then moving on to multihued fabrics. Candy goes into detail about her color chart – appropriately named the Candiotic Table of Elemental Color. As a scientist and teacher, her methodology of experimentation and tracking her results is extremely enlightening.

The DVD includes specifics on exactly what supplies are needed and Candy’s recipes for these 6 jewel tone hues.

A final chapter on the disk features Candy demonstrating her free motion machine sketching technique and her approach to using hand dyed fabrics in her art. I’ve always loved that Candy creates art that can be worn and used on bags and accessories in addition to pieces that can be hung on a wall.

Dyeing to Stitch is a comprehensive guide to Candy’s dyeing process done beautifully with details and backstory that are sure to inspire anyone interested in learning to hand dye fabric. Congratulations to Candy on such a magnificent job!

You can see more of Candy on her Candied Fabrics blog. The DVD is available for purchase as a disc or a download.

For an opportunity to win a copy of the DVD leave a comment sharing why you dye fabric or would like to learn. I’ll draw a winner on Saturday.

More fabulous stops on the blog tour:

·         Friday, 11/11 –  Victoria Gertenbach of The Silly BooDilly­

·         Monday, 11/14 – Susan Brubaker Knapp of Blue Moon River

·         Wednesday, 11/16 –  Kathy Mack of Pink Chalk Studio

·         Friday, 11/18 – Melody Johnson of Fibermania

·         Monday, 11/21 – Amy Ellis of Amy’s Creative Side

·         Wednesday, 11/23 – Diane Doran of Ooh! Pretty Colors

·         Friday, 11/25 –  Vicki Welsh of  Field Trips in Fiber

·         Monday, 11/28/11 – Brenda Gael Smith of Serendipity and the Art of the Quilt

·         Wednesday, 11/30 – Amy Webb of Amy Lou Who Sews

·         Friday, 12/2 – Robin Ferrier of Simply Robin

·         Tuesday, 12/6 – Natalia Bonner of Piece N Quilt

·         Thursday, 12/8  – Beth and the gang from Sew Mama Sew

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Winners from the book review post:

The Colette Sewing Handbook – Alison

A Colette Sewing Pattern of their choice – Lisa and Heather

Thank you to everyone that left a comment – it totally gave me the clothes sewing bug!

pink chalk fabrics ~*~ new arrivals ~*~ free patterns ~*~ on sale

Sarai Mitnick is the founder and designer behind Colette Patterns. Classic styles and excellent instructions make Colette Patterns the top selling garment patterns at Pink Chalk Fabrics.

I could hardly wait to lay eyes on Sarai’s first book The Colette Sewing Handbook: Inspired Styles and Classic Techniques for the New Seamstress. Worth the wait? Absolutely!

The chapters cover the fundamental principles of making great clothes: forming a plan, using a pattern, choosing fabric, customizing the fit, and finishing your garment well.

Each fundamental principle is presented with a thoughtful story of why it’s important followed by excellent written and visual instructions of specific techniques. The chapters conclude with a sewing project that encompasses the lessons taught. There are 5 full sized clothing patterns included in the book: 1 skirt, 1 blouse, and 3 dresses. You will want to make them all.

One of my favorite quotes from the book:

“A curious person who likes to learn will never get bored with sewing!”

A section named Sewing Lessons covers pressing, gathering, how to sew a dart (including why they’re designed the way they are!), tucks, facings, an invisible zipper, and setting a sleeve.

Excellent photography …

… and detailed illustrations!

In the book’s introduction, Sarai shares her view that learning to sew is a process that begins by slowly building up from a foundation of very simple, basic ideas. Her choice of techniques to teach, the order in which they’re presented, and the inclusion of projects that reinforce the lessons is brilliant, accessible and a joy to read and learn from.

Congratulations to Sarai on an amazing book! I highly recommend it for someone teaching themselves to sew garments and for experienced sewists looking for great patterns, an inside view of Sarai’s techniques and an enjoyable read about a talented artist’s philosophy on sewing.

Follow Sarai on the Coletterie blog and view her complete line of Colette Sewing Patterns in the shop.

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Leave a comment sharing why you like to sew garments or want to learn. We’ll give away a copy of the book and two Colette patterns from the shop. Winners announced Saturday (November 12). Winners announced!

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Other fabulous stops on the blog tour:

Nov 2: Craft Buds – interview and giveaway
Nov. 3: Gertie’s New Blog for Better Sewing – lace insertion tutorial for the Licorice dress
Nov. 4: Sewaholic – book excerpt
Nov. 8: Flossie Teacakes – Interview with Sarai and book review
Nov. 8: A Fashionable Stitch – book excerpt and review
Nov. 9: Pink Chalk Studio – Book review
Nov. 10: Craft Gossip – Interview with Sarai and giveaway
Nov. 11: Bolt Fabric – book review
Nov. 14: True Up: Fabric Fives with Sarai
Nov. 15: Frolic! – On styling the book’s photos
Nov. 15: Threads Magazine – Giveaway
Nov. 16: Whipstitch – book review
Nov. 16: Honey Kennedy – Styling ideas
Nov. 17: A Dress a Day – Interview with Sarai
Nov. 18: Not Martha – book review
(break for Thanksgiving week)
Nov. 28: Casey’s Elegant Musings – Project Planning, book excerpt and Casey’s thoughts
Nov. 29: MADE – giveaway
Nov. 30: Sew Weekly – book review
Nov. 30: Oh! Fransson - Elizabeth’s version of the Taffy pattern
Dec. 1: Sew Mama Sew – Guest post from Sarai on grainlines

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There’s nothing like seeing these beautiful solids stacked high!

The Modern Mix Blog Tour winners:

Modern Mix Book – Elaine

Stack One of 43 Kona Cotton Solids Used in the Book – MollyP

Stack Two of 43 Kona Cotton Solids Used in the Book – Gina S.

Previous week’s Fat Quarter Tuesday Winners (totally forgot to do this last Tuesday!):

Robot Factory by Caleb Gray FQ Set (winner’s choice of colorway) – Dianne (blog comments)

Color stack FQ Set (winner’s choice of colorway) – Alves (newsletter subscriber)

Look for an e-mail from us on Monday. Have a fabulous weekend! xo Kathy

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Sometimes a book sneaks up and really takes you away. Modern Mix by Jessica Levitt for Stash Books is one of those.

I liked the idea of a book built around mixing solids with prints. After reading through Modern Mix several times I’m extremely impressed. First off, it contains 16 projects you’ll want to make. From the Wall Pocket to the Quilted Camera Case to each and every quilt in the book, add them to the list.

Secondly, the designs are fresh and tie directly to the chapter topics. Each one will have you thinking about your sewing in a new way.

Organized into 4 unique and totally relevant sections, each is a lesson in good design:

• Back Me Up – using solid fabrics as a background for your favorite prints.
• Strips and Stripes – adding strips of solids to highlight your gorgeous prints.
• Accentuate the Positive – little bits of solid colors to bring out the best in patterns.
• Steal the Show – piecing solids as the focus of your project.

Included in the Little Bits of Solid Colors to Bring Out the Best in Patterns section, Twin String Quilt not only hits the concept on the head, it doubly inspires by showing two versions of the quilt with two opposite value selections. Amazing results!

Jessica Levitt is an extremely talented artist with the ability to translate her designs into accessible projects backed up with well-written construction directions. It’s clear an enormous amount of work and passion for excellence went into making Modern Mix and it pays off brilliantly for the reader. Bravo Jessica for a book well done!

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At the end of the book, Jessica lists the Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton colors used in each project (everyone always asks this so I’m so glad to see it included in the book!). I thought it would be fun to thow in a little something extra for the giveaway since it falls on Fat Quarter Tuesday, so…

Three winners:  One copy of Modern Mix provided by Stash Books (print for a US winner and e-book for International) and two Fat Quarter Stacks of every solid featured in the book* provided by Pink Chalk Fabrics, a total of 43 colors, now that’s a stash builder!!!

Leave a comment sharing your favorite Kona Cotton color (or two or three) for a chance to win. I’ll announce a winner on Saturday.

* sans a couple of colors we don’t stock

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Visit Jessica’s Blog Juicy Bits for more inspiration and be sure to visit the other stops on the blog tour:

pink chalk fabrics ~*~ new arrivals ~*~ free patterns ~*~ on sale

Congrats to Janet of Caribou Crossing Chronicles the winner of the Quilt Retro book. Enjoy!

pink chalk fabrics ~*~ new arrivals ~*~ free patterns ~*~ on sale

Quilt Retro: 11 Designs to Make Your Own by Jenifer Dick is a wonderful book chock full of inspiration, designs and technique. Jenifer’s modern quilt making point of view is shared thoughtfully as she describes the inspiration behind each design, construction techniques, and ideas on how each quilt could be made differently.

Each project in the book has a lesson to teach. Topics include color theory, applique technique, ideas on using solids, and design rules of thumb.

I very much enjoyed seeing modern quilts built on precision piecing.

I have to give a shout out to the quilting art of Angela Walters and Sheryl Schleicher. The ideas and inspiration in the quilting designs are breathtaking. Each project page layout is comprised of a full picture of the quilt with a detailed photo of the quilting design underneath. What a fabulous use of the page space. Visually appealing while showing us quilters a close up of exactly what we want to see: the quilting detail!

The one new, BIG thing I learned from Jenifer’s book was Invisible Zigzag Applique. The book includes 7 pages of detailed instruction that guides you step-by-step through the process. Jenifer covers every last detail including a troubleshooting checklist.

I asked Jenifer what type of thread she recommended. Here was her response:

“Sulky makes a nice invisible that I would recommend. Lately I’ve been using Superior Clear MonoPoly. It’s very soft and thin, making it feel like regular thread. Each machine is unique and not all threads will work with all machines. If you are having troubles with one, try a different brand and see if that makes a difference. I’ve even found that I have to use the same brand in the top and bobbin to get the tension right! Invisible thread can be finicky, but I love the results so much that I’m willing to work with it to get it just so!

LOVE the mix of prints and solids on the Fork and Spoon quilt!

The best quilting books inspire, teach and leave us excited to try new things. Congrats to Jenifer on creating a beautiful book that does all three.

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To win a signed copy of Quilt Retro leave a comment sharing why you like working with solids in your quilt making or would like to begin using solids more. I will pick a winner Saturday morning.

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Previous fabulous stops on the book tour:

Monday 10/3: Alissa Haight Carlton of Handmade by Alissa

Tuesday 10/4: BonnieHunter of Quiltville!

Wednesday 10/5: Tammie Schaffer of Crafty Tammie

Thursday 10/6: Jenifer Dick at 42 Quilts!

Friday 10/7: Angela Walters of Quilting is My Therapy

Monday 10/10: Jacquie Gering of Tallgrass Prairie Studios

Tuesday 10/11: Deb Rowden of Deb Rowden’s Thrift Shop Quilts

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Wow, it was so fun reading everyone’s scrappy comments. As quilters we really do have a love affair with those tiny bits and pieces. Here’s a full on view of my scrap quilt. Does it need a border? I’m thinking a simple white border and a solid pink binding. What would you do?

The winners:

Scrap Republic from C&T Publishing – Julie of Red Key Quilting

Scrap Republic Eco Tote from C&T Publishing – Brenda

Bag o’ Scraps from Robert Kaufman – Celine of Espritpatch

ROY G BIV Essential Cotton Thread in Red, Pumpkin, Butter, Lime, Cerulean, Midnight, and Red Violet from Connecting Threads – Linda E in AZ

Mrs. Roy G. Biv Pattern from Carolina Patchworks (the pattern that inspired the book!) – tusen of A Quilt, Maybe

Congrats everyone, look for an e-mail from us today.

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