Jaybird Quilts: October 2011

Monday, October 31, 2011

Home from Market!

I went to Houston for 2 quick days of Quilt Market & I'm back. I have LOTS to show you... but it'll have to wait since I'm headed to the airport to pick up my parents!! Today is their big move day... and I'm excited to see them!!

After all their belongings were packed... mother nature decided to give them one last snow! It was the first time that snow accumulated in the philly area since sometime in the 1960's!! Crazy I know!

A few things.

1. Thanks for the all the love on my new patterns. You guys rock!

2. I will pick the last two winners of giveaway week & post them soon. { Winners Post }

3. I'll post more market photos & tell you all about it. For now here are a few peeks!

Verna Mosquera of The Vintage Spool with her new fabric line & new patterns

Jean Wells in her schoolhouse {it was really good!}

Thomas Knauer & his debut line Pear Tree

Vanessa Christenson of V&Co showing off projects from her book Make it Sew Modern {due in January}

Tula Pink & other rocking designers talking about different fabric substrates

Betz White with her new line Stitch for Robert Kaufman

Friday, October 28, 2011

Radio Way - Quilt Pattern

The final new pattern is Radio Way!

I also love this one. It is fast & fun to make... since you know I like to get things done!

Here is the back of the pattern. All the math for 4 sizes!

Quilt Details
Fabric is assorted. More info Below.
Pattern - Radio Way
Designed by me

Quilted by Angela Walters
Started on 8/5/11
Finished on 10/17/11
Quilt measures - 50" x 70"

About the fabric.
Most of the fabrics that I used are from 2 collections.
-- Citron Grey by Michael Miller
-- Metro Living by Robert Kaufman
In addition to those I added in some black and white prints from my stash. I have a weakness for Black & White prints and have been collecting them for some time. I have over 50 and rarely use them, but decided this was the right project. If you want to make Radio Way similar to what mine looks like I suggest starting with those two collections and adding in some more B&W prints from your stash or favorite quilt shop! {If someone makes a similar kit I'll post the info for you!... hint hint to shops out there!}

Ready for the outtakes?

When my brother was here we also took Radio Way out with us in hopes of shooting the cover. The quilt actually wasn't bound yet... but you can't really tell unless you look closely!

...but one thing you can see is a big fold a little more than half way down! It drove me crazy! I'm usually good about pressing quilts before photographing them but since I grabbed this at the last minute...unbound & all I forgot!

Here I am chatting with a fellow photographer. Brad & I drove to the peak for these photos... this woman walked/hiked up. I did the walk/hike the next day & my legs killed me for a few days!! {But the place is so beautiful and I did enjoy the hike while I did it.}

This was probably my favorite... If it wasn't for that fold this might have been the cover.

Here is a peek at the back.

Once the binding was a few days later on I headed to the beach.

Because the quilt is mostly yellow, white & grey it just felt like it blended in with the sand. Ok... back in the car and off to another beach... yes another one. {It is nice to live in Cali!}

Location #3....

I tried the rocks over by the water.. no luck.

Eventually I ended up taking a bunch on an old piece of wood & ended up with the cover shot you see above. It was WAY more photos & locations than usual... but worth it!

All four new patterns will be available starting 12/1.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Come What May - Quilt Pattern

I know I shouldn't pick favorites... but sometimes you just do!
This quilt is one of my all time favorite quilts that I've made... hands down.

Sometimes it's hard to name quilts & other times the name comes on day one and never changes. This one is the latter. I had the name set before I even figured out the right fabric.

I've had this design in my sketchbook for a few years. As soon as I saw Parisville I knew it was the perfect fabric for this pattern & got to work!

I know it looks complicated... but it really isn't. It's just one big block! This quilt is so fast to make... ignore that it took me 10 months to make this... I got distracted and made 20 other quilts in that time too!

Here is the back. The pattern has all the info for 3 different sizes.

Quilt Details
Fabric is Parisville by Tula Pink for Freespirit
Pattern - Come What May
Designed by me

Quilted by Angela Walters
Started on 12/11/10
Finished on 10/15/11
Quilt measures - 64" x 80"

My brother came to visit recently and we took my two new quilts out to shoot the covers. Unfortunately I didn't end up using any of the photos he took on the covers... but I did use the one to make my new header.

Look at the floating quilt...

you want me to keep climbing up this hill?... really... ok...

It was windy... and I liked this photo but thought it was a bit weird how you just see a peek of my head. This photo does show some of the great quilting Angela did.

This wasn't working at all.

Let the laughter begin...

...and keep going

I really loved the photos we took by the fountain.

...but I just couldn't make them work for the cover. So I headed out a few days later to the beach and took the cover photo on the rocks by the water.

--

I'm headed to quilt market today! Wow how time flies... it feels like I was just at spring market. I'll take lots of photos & give you a recap once I get back!

Come back tomorrow to learn about Radio Way!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Biscuit - Pincushion Pattern

Biscuit is my 2nd little pattern!

After a few requests from Local Quilt Shops I decided to put my pincushions together into a pattern. The pattern is full of new illustrations, better instructions and a template option as well.

Biscuit - JBQ 114

The "little patterns" will cost $6.50

They are smaller {4.5" x 6"} and super cute!

{and still printed in FULL color... and fully illustrated!}

Here is the back of the pattern.

It shows a few more options.

The cover shoot for this pattern wasn't too hectic. I knew I wanted the pincushion to be big... take up most of the cover... & that I wanted two of them in the photo. After that it was just playing with the arrangement, lighting, camera lenses etc.

Here is a collage of a few that didn't make the cut.

One of the cover pincushions is made in Hello Luscious by Basic Grey. I immediately fell in love with the blue prints and quickly made the pincushion. They are very fast to whip up! Here is the blue one full of crushed walnut shells. {The pink one is empty in the photo since I ran out.}

{They will be at market in the Basic Grey booth!}

I'm a busy bee over here getting ready for market. This will be market #5... and while you'd think I would have learned to not work up until the last minute... nope... hasn't happened!

Come back tomorrow to learn more about Come What May!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Jawbreaker

I'm excited to present my first little pattern!

Jawbreaker - JBQ 113

The "little patterns" are smaller {4.5" x 6"} and super cute!

{and still printed in FULL color... and fully illustrated!}

I'm in love with this pillow. I made it months ago & it was hard to not show you right away... but I needed to work out the details for the pattern. This pillow was inspired by one I did over a year ago for a flickr swap. I knew as soon as I sent the pillow off I'd miss it!

Here is the back of the pattern.

You can use the Hex N More ruler or the template included.

Pillow Details
Fabric is Prince Charming by Tula Pink for Freespirit
Pattern - Jawbreaker
Designed & Quilted by me
Started on 5/20/11
Finished on 5/31/11
Pillow measures - 20" x 20"

I filmed a couple of videos on Jawbreaker as a part of the Journey 2 Nebula. You can sign up for the Journey self paced as well as watch the videos on YouTube.

Some pattern cover shoots take forever while others are simple. Luckily this was one of the simple ones... but here are a few of the photos that didn't make the cut...

First shot... not bad but also not the cover shot.

I added in a few pillows for scale... but then decided it was distracting.

Then I started shooting inside in the kitchen... but the lighting was off.

I headed outside & the light was much better. I moved around the house a bit till I found the right shot... which is the one you see on the cover.

Often I want to label pillows... but my quilt labels are too big

My solution is an iron on label that is aprx 1" x 2" placed on the back in the bottom corner.

I also made a 2nd Jawbreaker out of Hello Luscious by Basic Grey

{It'll be at market in the Basic Grey booth!}

I hope you love this pillow as much as I do!

Monday, October 24, 2011

Four New Patterns!

In the midst of the move I've been working on some new stuff!!

I have 4 new patterns to share with you.

2 Quilt Patterns & 2 Little Jaybird Quilts Patterns!

I'll post more about each one over the next few days.{with photo shoot outtakes of course!... check out my new header for one of my favorite outtakes taken by my brother!}
--
The patterns are will be available to ship on 12/1
If you are a shop that is interested in purchasing my patterns you can contact me or you can contact your Checker, United Notions or Brewer reps.
--
*note*I won't have my own booth at market... it was just too crazy with the move!... but a few of my new patterns will be on display in other booths for you to check out. I will be at market for a short time... just Friday & Saturday!Radio Way, Biscuit & Jawbreaker will be in BrewerBiscuit & Jawbreaker will be in Basic Grey