Happy Winter for those of you in the North.... We've got snow and lots of it. So good time for some Winter Shimmer Feathers! It's my day on the {Amazing} Adventures in Paper Piecing & Design Book Tour!! Guess what pattern we're highlighting from the book??? Sarah's VooDoo Feathers in my new Winter Shimmer Fabric !! I fell in love with Sarah Elisabeth Sharp's work and her when she first burst onto the quilting scene. I met her at a Meet and Greet during Quilt Market*...instantaneously charmed. She's bubbly, enormous smile, sparkling eyes and a passion for paper piecing. Her colorful, witty and vibrant work surfaces after she lawyers all day and in the midst of raising two children...actually now it's three! (I can totally relate except she has daughters, I have three sons) Unstoppable expression of creativity...Yup. She just glows and with her energy, it was clear to me, that in addition to making patterns, She had to write a book for C&T Publishing. So there you have it. We became friends and she has worked her magic as I have watched her grow. I have been lucky enough to have her work with many of my fabric lines through Robert Kaufman too. She has been delighting makers everywhere with her patterns and images and now we are so lucky to have a 144 pages of her colorful paper piecing genius of HOW TO in our hot little hands. Better get a copy to add to your quilting library. * she informed me it was actually Quilt Con- Pasadena, three years ago and I was doing pushups after a cocktail (or two?).....Hmmm. My birthday challenge.... and no, above feathers are not life size body pillows...That illusion may tempt the nappers out there... it's kinda a cool idea.....anyone gonna accept the challenge? LMK. We are giving away some Winter Shimmer too! Details below for entering. But thats what they look like above. Plus you can see more here on my page Closeup of feather made in Stormy Sky Charm Pack of Konas and two prints from Winter Shimmer. So elegant! Her book is filled with how to make your own designs so you learn the method, approach to design, using prompts and how to choose color and fabric. If you want to learn how to do the process with a less challenging pattern, I think this VOODOO FEATHER Is a great jumping off point. She has 7 projects from which you can choose to replicate (patterns back of book) and use your own fabric choices. EDIT 01/22/19 CONGRATULATIONS TO LAURA TAWNEY! SHE WON!! Thank you all for commenting. I read and appreciate each and every one. For a chance to win a copy Sarah’s book and a bundle of my WINTER SHIMMER you must comment below. We will randomly pick winner. Over on Instagram, We are also doing give aways as I know some of you who follow my blog don't necessarily do Instagram. On Instagram, tag as many friends as you’d like for additional chances to win plus you have to follow Sarah too @nohatsquilts!! This giveaway is open until January 28, Monday morning. International comments welcome and due to postage pricing, if you are overseas, and you win, I will CRAM as much fabric I can into a small flat rate box....SO you might have to do a little ironing...but that's no biggie, right? Below is the schedule and books are being donated at every stop plus many of the contributors are also giving free swag away so please follow along to be inspired and learn more. Some real talented folks are showing their skills. #adventuresbooktour Adventures in Paper Piecing & Design January 7 – 26, 2019 Monday January 7 – Plant Lady Heather Givans (@crimsontate | crimsontate.com) Featured Quilter: Marion McClellan (@myquiltdiet) Tuesday January 8 – Graffiti FPP Sarah Sharp (@nohatsquilts | nohatsinthehouse.com) Wednesday January 9 – Design Prompt No. 1 – Learning by the Letter Giuseppe Ribaudo (aka Giucy Giuce) (@giucy_giuce) Thursday January 10 – Snooze Amanda Castor (@materialgirlquilts | materialgirlquilts.com) Featured Quilter: Karlee Porter (@karleeporterdesign) Friday January 11 – Design Prompt No. 2 – Traditional with a Twist Katy Cameron (@the_littlest_thistle | the-littlest-thistle.com) Saturday January 12 – Prickly Path Anneliese Johnson (@eyecandyquilts | eyecandyquilts.com) Featured Quilter: Angela Walters (@angelafmq) Featured Fabric Designer: Alison Glass (@alisonglass) Monday January 14 – Design Prompt No. 3 – Objects Alison Robins (@littleislandquilting) Tuesday January 15 – Voodoo Feathers Jennifer Sampou (@jennifersampou | jennifersampou.com) Wednesday January 16 – Design Prompt No. 4 – Creatures Anne Sullivan (@playcrafts | play-crafts.com) Thursday January 17 – Folksy Friends Sarah Sharp (@nohatsquilts | nohatsinthehouse.com) Featured Quilter: Kathleen Riggins (@kathleenquilts) Friday January 18 – Design Prompt No. 5 – Think Outside the (Square) Block Cath Hall (@wombatquilts | wombatquilts.com) Saturday January 19 – Fireflies Sarah Lauzon (@cera.bee | sarahjlauzon.com) Featured Quilter: Rachael Dorr (@rachaeldorr) Sunday January 20 – Sunday Book Review! Sarah Ashford (@sarahashfordstudio) Tuesday January 22 – Design Prompt No. 6 – Repeat Designs Allison Dutton (@allisonsews | allison-sews.blogspot.com) Wednesday January 23 – Jungleview Merran Fryer (@123bluejumper) Thursday January 24 – Design Prompt No. 7 – Single Foundation Paper Piecing Jamie Swanson (@jamiemswansonquilts) Friday January 25 – Double Diamond Wedding Ring Elisabeth Hardy (@elisabew | elisabewquilts.com) Featured Quilter: Andrea Munro (@practicaldazzle) Saturday January 26 – Recap and Photography Sarah Sharp (@nohatsquilts | nohatsinthehouse.com) Eric Lubrick (@ericlubrick | ericlubrick.com) Wrapping this up, I would like to wish you a Happy New Year and share that 2019 is a big year for me - I started designing fabric for P&B Textiles 1989- Yup that was 30 years ago. I am so thankful to be in this industry and more fired up than ever....So, naturally I have a few things up my sleeve and with the help of Robert Kaufman and C&T Publishing and many quilting friends, I will be unfolding some pretty fun stuff this year. Stay tuned and keep those rotary cutters sharp, needles pointy and maker head, heart and hands ready!
Creatively yours,
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Hey Beautiful Makers out there!! Thrilled to show you my lastest collection, Chalk and Charcoal (for sale) made up in my Polygon Quilt Pattern with a little twist. Yes, I have made a few of these quilts from my latest pattern (C&T Publishing) and part of the pleasure of repeating a theme/pattern is to delve deeper and discover more about a set of shapes and how they relate when different guidelines are applied. Instead of doing a solid, one piece background on which to appliqué my wonkie hexies, I cut bands of 4" wide strips (10 strips to be exact, by width of fabric) choosing all Kona neutrals that coordinate with my new Chalk and Charcoal Collection. The only strip that isn't 4" wide is the very bottom, steel essex which is 9 1/2" wide by width of fabric. I also oriented the polygons in a landscape format which I really enjoy. It gives the pattern a whole different feel. Below: 2 movie clips showing (can see on website blog only) up close and personal video of new collection: Take a nice long cleansing breath. These vids are slow and easy....just how I like my fabric petting time :) Chalk and Charcoal- Movie Short Dark ComboChalk and Charcoal- Movie Short Light ComboI built my quilt as I stitched the background strips together starting with the three center strips. That way I could layout two columns of polygons on top of the three sewn background strips and machine appliqué with MonoPoly as I went along. I used two charm packs to make Polygons: One of Chalk&Charcoal and the other of my Chalk and Charcoal Coordinate pack. Background stripes used 1/8 yd of Kona Khaki, Natural, Silver, Haze, Snow. 1/4 yard of Essex Steel, Kona White, Oyster and Doeskin. These notes in my blog today will offer extended benefit and more ideas to the pattern for those of you who have purchased it and making your own Polygon Play Quilt. The options are many!! By having these 4" strips which finish at 3 1/2" you have built in lines to follow with your polygon center seams and no need for marking pencil or tailors chalk. I like the ease of this approach too. For the fun of all you makers out there, once again I have chosen twenty coordinating fabrics to go with Chalk and Charcoal prints out of Robert Kaufman's Essex, Essex Metallic and Essex Homespun. You can see all the fabulous, yummy texture that happens between my prints and the various wovens. I also had fun with transparent effects (notice the white band on left give the feeling it's a translucent strip shrouding polygons) Note the November 10, 2017 date up above. This is the final stage of putting together a collection. I work a year in advance to bring you new fabrics! Hello Stitch, one of my favorite local sewing studios in Berkeley California, did the wonderful quilting on this piece and they always help me out in a pinch. And I usually am in a pinch as promotion for release and marketing is always a very real deadline! The back of the quilt highlights two of my favorite prints from Chalk and Charcoal, Marble and Lyrical with the selvage as the dividing dark line. I use my custom labels I made for all my quilts now. Yes, I have grown up in that regard and very much enjoy the lovely finish of taking the extra time to execute these details with patience and pride. The facing instead of traditional binding is also a nice, modern touch. Chalk and Charcoal Designed in my California studio, 26 fabrics printed in Japan, are shipping to your favorite stores May 2018. (I HOPE they have ordered it for you!!) If not, I am also taking preorders in my shop for 1/2 cuts and FQ bundles. There are also Rollups, Ten Squares 10" and Charm Packs 5" squares sold as precuts. I love what I do and feel so fortunate to be able to share my passion of design and textiles with you. Let me know if you have any questions. Hearing from you brightens up my day!
Now GO CREATE and HAVE FUN! Xx My new Polygon Quilts pattern is a riff on hexie quilts and pushes the concept of polygons by taking them toward an improvisational bent. It came about as a mistake, a roadblock due to lack of supplies. And that can be pretty exciting. Who needs a perfect little template anyway??? I'll tell you the story: A while back on a Friday afternoon just as the kids were getting off the bus, Todd and I were packing up "the brick" (our old red, beater SUV), to head up to the mountains. Rushing to get the dogs in... Is there enough room? The duffle just fell on Indie and Luna! (they're such a putter uppers- love my dogs) Don't forget the kibble... William did you feed the chickens? Marky lock the back doors...Is Tommy even coming? Todd scrambling to get the last bike on the rack and I was sweeping through my studio full force gathering up my hexie weekend project stuffing my supplies into my tote. Let's go! We'll Beat the traffic! The next morning, waking up in the fresh mountain air, eating a big breakfast and after a hike in the woods I was ready to settle into my sewing project with my new fabric Studio Stash (2015) while the boys went fishing. Peace and quiet at last. Ahhhh. Within minutes of unpacking my supplies, I realized I had forgotten my hexie templates on my studio table.%$#%#()& !!!! I was frustrated that of all the stuff I packed into that car, I had forgotten that little stack of perfect paper pieces I hoped would bring joy to my afternoon. Now what should I do? Too lazy to drive into Truckee... as well as too cheap/irritated to buy another pack of hexies (these qualities drive creativity indeed!) I decided to mess around with my new 5" charm packs. O'well. Let's see what comes of it. So I chain pieced a few HST, cut them and pressed. Felt pretty good. I love the repetitive process of sewing, cutting, pressing, fooling around with turning over and basting the imperfect edges. Within a few hours, I had amassed a pile of wonky hexies. It was a super fun and forgiving process, plus each shape was slightly different than the one before. They each had little personalities...! The creative juices were flowing and I was in the zone. Techniques: Sew baste vs glue. Both work. Polygon layout took more studying, measuring and figuring. Puzzle pieces. Machine and hand appliqué are both rewarding ways to secure the polygons to background fabric. I am thrilled to announce I will be teaching a workshop at Pokey Bolton's Art Barn in Napa March 24-25, 2018 So there you have it. Thats how this quilt and pattern came to be. Making these wonkie shapes became a little addiction and I had made multiple pieces by the time we were ready to offer the pattern. Endless ideas for Layout of Polygons: Spiral, Wave, Rain etc (images in pattern booklet) and varying scale of polygons is also a fun study. We are tickled at the potential of this concept and can't wait to see what you all do! Make sure to hashtag on Instagram #jennifersampou #polygonplayquilt #polygonquilts so I can see your creativity at work! And hey! I would love to see you in NAPA!! Pillows, table runners, bags are all options for projects with Polygon Play Quilts Polygon Toile. Shows off the main toile fabric while center panel dances with colors and shapes. Be well. Make well.
HI QUILTERS! Wrapping up my creative thoughts for the summer- 1. Fear and doubt around making and creativity 2. It's Ok- It happens 3. Pinterest is like dessert...and all other social media! 4. Just start MAKING- Adopt a YES I CAN attitude :) I have been a dedicated creative my entire life. Do I still get scared? Get brain cramp and maker's block? Have a hard time starting a new project. Do I still question my abilities? Do you get these jitters too? I bet you do. I do. Not every single time, but my ball and chain of FEAR and DOUBT have a nice little cozy spot in my studio. Sometimes they are loud buggers just bringing me down and sometimes, like my cat Al, they sleep peacefully under the table, as I hum along in a blissful, timeless process of creativity. Or as my dear buddy, Marcella says (who is an amazing jewelry maker) "They're (Fear and Doubt) in that nicely sealed mason jar up on the shelf, there (as she points up high). Seen, but contained... Crap!! DONT OPEN THAT! WHAT HAPPENED? What are they doing?????Wait wait.....WAIT!!!! NOOOOOOOOO!! It's OK. I have come to learn through experience, perseverance and a huge dose of humor, that fear is a necessary, albeit an unpleasant PART OF THE CREATIVE PROCESS and it to keeps my on my toes. I used to wonder if it will ever just go away? Sorry, that's not part of the deal. But when I make the commitment to DIVE IN and just DO IT, they settle down. It doesn't mean that I am going to now make a masterpiece or love every minute of the process, but I just got over the hardest part. Lots of creatives feel the same way. I have talked, listened, and shared with so many creatives, as well as read lots of books over the years to really know and understand fear and doubt. If we are honest, thoughtful, reflective and looking to grow and better ourselves/each other, most of us relate to this thing that challenges us. It frightens us and it's our courage that fuels the stubbornness of a committed, creative person. No, I am not gonna let you bring me down!!! You're not going to win. I am!! Thoughts 3. and 4. go hand in hand- Pinterest is like dessert. Why? It's super rich and if you consume too much, it makes you sick. It's as simple as that. Just turn it off. It's not serving you when you feel like crap after wasting 45 minutes in that rabbit hole. I pretty much took my entire summer off from social media. It was wonderful :) which leads to number four: Just start MAKING! Here lies the cure for the lazies, the naysayers, the excuses. Just start making! Going back to my previous posts, pull out your fabrics and do 15 minutes of play, take a class with a friend, go online and learn a new technique. Give yourself this gift! You may not be making your masterpiece, but you are oiling the machine. Wiping out the cobwebs. Good stuff! Empowering others, empowers me. Seeing you shine is what I love to cultivate in the classroom. Not only do I teach color, value and design , I teach confidence and courage. To take leaps, risks and try new things is exciting and enriching. I am offering my second Octagon Shimmer Retreat October 20-22 in my home town of Orinda and it is a wonderful treat. Sewing, creating, hanging out at my home and studio, having chefs cook for you, drinking craft wines, wandering massuese to keep you relaxed and limited to 10 students. Click here for information. I am also teaching at Alden Lane September 20-21 in Livermore, California which will be a ball. My new collection, SHIMMER ON is the third in this line and I am still so enamored with the pearlescent glow on the cotton fabric and the palette of nature. It is available now and I hope it comes to a store near you. You can also find it here. Until next time, go create and shimmer. xo A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle. (James Keller) In fact, we just get more SHIMMER (me!)
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