Jaybird Quilts

Friday, June 1, 2012

Happy new birthday

Yup, today is my new birthday. New you ask? You can read all the details in last year's post. I assume without facebook alerts to remind people that most people will forget. I had a good birthday last year for the first time in years & my family is already on board to switch it back. Not so fast I say! {In reality they didn't actually ask for my opinion... strange.}

Anyway, today is still when I've chosen to celebrate my birthday.

Yesterday I was reminded that I have the best friend a girl could ever dream of having. She's 3,000 miles away & doesn't forget my new birthday, sends an amazing card, and a book to help me cultivate my style. Now that's true friendship. Pannepacker, I love you.

The One Hundred: A Guide to the Pieces Every Stylish Woman Must Own

I'm going to spend my birthday playing with fabric.

{Fabric from Marmalade Fabrics}

Playing with more fabrics.

{New Kona Solids by Robert Kaufman}

Sewing a quilt.

{New Kona Solids by Robert Kaufman}

Lounging around the house with my quilts.

{Ditto in Simply Color by V&Co.}

Making some s'mores.

...and laughing at Amazon's recommendations for me.

Yes, Amazon suggested I buy my own book this week.

You can pre-order a copy in my shop. {and get a bonus!}or you can also get it from Amazon
Skip the Borders: Easy Patterns for Modern Quilts - Amazon
and come August it'll be in Quilt Shops all over!

--
How do you spend your birthday?

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Quilt Market Recap - Schoolhouse

Ready for some Market Recap? I'm sorry it has taken me a few days to get all the photos together. I finally caught up on sleep & then had family visiting for the holiday weekend.

Schoolhouse occurs the day before the Market show floor opens. Presentations occur on new fabrics, patterns, notions, books and more. I presented a schoolhouse on my book, Skip the Borders: Easy Patterns for Modern Quilts.

Thank you to Thomas for taking the photos of me & my quilts during my schoolhouse... & thank you to everyone who attended. It was great to have a packed house!

As you'll see from the photos... I talk with my hands when discussing quilts!!

Here is a peek at some of the Book Quilts. The book features 15 quilts. Most are new, but you may recognize a few favorites that have been in magazines over the years. Over the next few months I'll share more about the Book Quilts leading up to the release.

White Stars - Featuring Prince Charming by Tula Pink

Four Patch Shift - Featuring Pick a Bunch by Nancy Mims

In Formation - Featuring Bella Solids

Dot Dot Dash - Featuring a mix of Batik Fabrics

Square City - Featuring Silent Cinema by Jenean Morrison & Stitch by Betz White

Stars and Stripes - Featuring Stitch by Betz White

Raspberry Dessert - Featuring Quilter's Linen by Robert Kaufman

Framed Coins - Featuring Kona Solids by Robert Kaufman & with an assortment of Black and White prints from my stash.

The back of White Stars. I love how you can see Angela's quilting on the back!!

Once Candi & I had the booth all set up we were able to go to a few schoolhouses that other friends of ours presented.

First up was Tula Pink. She told the back story of the development of Night Shade. It involves the Von Black sisters & you can read more on the FreeSpirit blog. Tula had giant quilt backs made that feature each of the three sisters.

Neptunia Von Black

Bella Donna Von Black

Scarlett Von Black

This Quilt is from Tula's Book, Quilts from the House of Tula Pink: 20 Fabric Projects to Make, Use and Love.

This is Kiss Kiss, one of Tula's patterns.

This is a quilt made from Voile & Cotton.

This is another quilt from Quilts from the House of Tula Pink: 20 Fabric Projects to Make, Use and Love. It is one of my favorites in the book. The book quilt featured earlier lines that Tula designed, this quilt is made from Birds & Bees and Night Shade together.

Space Dust - A new Tula Pink Pattern.

Angela had a schoolhouse to talk about her new quilting book, Free-Motion Quilting with Angela Walters: Choose & Use Quilting Designs on Modern Quilts.

This is the quilt featured on the cover.

She showed off many quilts in the book.

...and discussed the different quilting techniques used.

I'm really excited for the book since it'll give me a language that I can use to tell Angela what kind of quilting styles I like.

Currently I just let her figure out what to do with my quilts. When she asks for an opinion I usually say something about liking all that loopy feathery stuff. {Real descriptive right?!}