Well, what fun.  Today the actual market opens, but there have already been several days of antics.  For me, it started with an Andover Fabrics sales meeting and company dinner with lots of news of good things to come–new offerings in the batiks and solids (more to come on that), sponsorship of QuiltCon, and most exciting, a look at the new collections coming out. Quite invigorating.  More on Andover when I report on the fabric company booths later.

Last year I went to all the Andover schoolhouses which are incredibly well attended and have great give-aways.  This year I branched out and spontaneously went to where my nose led me, and I have some pics to show for it!  Then last night was the fabric 2.0 opening party, a place to meet new people, catch up with old friends, and meet in person people I’ve known online.  No pics of that so sorry, but here goes for some schoolhouse action–remember there are a million sessions and one cannot be everywhere at once – I wish!

First up was Dena of Dena Designs, the gal with one of the coolest booths at Surtex, showing her new fabric line “Happi”and projects she’s made with it.  Dena handpaints everything, and has a new book coming out, The Painted Home.

Dena Designs

Dena Designs

The Painted Home by Dena

Next was Jennifer Paganelli, showing her new collection Happy Land, a fun video she did with Downy and a second book coming out called Happy Home. Jennifer was accompanied by Carla Hegeman Crim, who writes many of the Sis Boom patterns and has her own book out now, Sewn Hats.

Jennifer Paganelli at Quilt Market 2012 Schoolhouse

Sis Boom

Sewn Hats by Carla Hegeman Crim

Valori Wells was there with her new line “Novella”, some quilt patterns to go with it, a slideshow that included her photography that serves as inspiration, and new sewing cards.

Valori Wells

Valori Wells

Valori Wells

Anna Maria Horner came with a variety of new fabrics (velveteen, voile, rayon) in her Field Study collection, her embroidery flosses and pearl cotton threads and projects that use all of these things together in new ways. Oh, and a new book, Anna Maria’s Needlework Notebook.

Anna Maria Horner

Anna Maria Horner

Anna Maria’s Needleworks Notebook

Amy Butler arrived with colorful projects using Alchemy and studio collections in satine, rayon, voile,  velveteen and linen. We were treated to a fashion show with music, and an appealing slide show of spreads from her new online project, Blossom Magazine, launching in November–patterns, photography and inspiration galore.  Its sort of a whole culture all its own.

Amy Butler

Amy Butler

Amy Butler

Next I went one to see some of the new designers at Art Gallery. First up, Angela Walters, machine quilter extraordinaire, with her new fabric line “textures”

Angela Walters

Then there was Bari J with her second collection with Art Gallery, Splendor 1920.

Bari J

And Sarah Watson, Illustrator, with Luxe in Bloom.

Sarah Watson

And Jeni Baker, with her Color Me Retro due Feb 2013.

Jeni Baker

And Pat Bravo, the creative force behind Art Gallery Fabrics concluded the schoolhouse with a video and a view of her new collection, Rock ‘n Romance.

Pat Bravo

That’s it for now.  In the next few days I will continue to report on my Quilt Market 2012 journey and share pics of booths, designers, cool projects, and the quilt exhibitions. Follow along!

AND…. in a few days it will be official –Licorice Fizz, my new fabric collection with Andover Fabrics is coming out this month. Double yay!  I have tons of projects in the works with some great pattern makers and sewists so will be sharing those in the weeks to come, but I also plan on highlighting other fabric designers, pattern designers and authors that I meet at Quilt Market.  Stay tuned for Quilt Market updates!

So here is Licorice Fizz!  Hope you like….

Licorice Fizz ©Carol Van Zandt with Andover Fabrics, Inc.

But winter weather is the perfect time to quilt. Snuggling under all those warm fabrics and batting to piece and quilt your next project make cold weather the perfect time to work. Here at the shop we have several projects going at all times, although I know very few quilters who only work on one project at a time.

Our fall beginner class has just ended last night and our next one is starting next week. Here’s a look at the quilt we make in that class:

Sampler Quilt from “Start Quilting with Alex Anderson”

Beginners learn to piece 7 different blocks. It’s a fun relaxed class. The book this quilt is from is Start Quilting with Alex Anderson 3rd edition by Alex Anderson. It’s a great book that teaches you multiple blocks in multiple quilt patterns.

We’re putting together the back for the quilt from the Summer 2011 Quilts and More magazine:

Once the back is together it’s off to the long arm quilter and will be our finished sample for the shop. I can’t wait for it to be finished so I can put it in my spare bedroom at my house. It’s queen size and will look fabulous on my double bed with the white iron headboard.  It’s a kit available at the shop right now.

Waiting for us to make our sample is Winter Bliss:

We made a kit for this quilt and have a sample in our shop but it’s not a sample that matches our fabrics. Eventually we’ll get to our sample But I keep getting new fabrics and patterns in that I want to make first.

So we’re kitting this quilt Wool Gardens:

out of nothing but flannel fabric and that’s our next sample to work on. I can’t wait to see this one finished. It will be so soft and cuddly and warm out of flannel. It uses Maywood Studios woolies collection and we’ve thrown in a couple of solid andover fabrics flannels as well for the flowers. Soft and cuddly and the perfect quilt to work on this winter. So while we have tons of projects cut out we are actually only sewing one. What’s in your unfinished pile?

And don’t forget in celebration of the upcoming winter season we are doing a sale on Friday October 19, 2012, where all flannels and fall and halloween fabrics and wool charms will be on sale. The perfect opportunity to stock up on flannels for making this fabulous quilt or whatever else you have in your pile of patterns to make. And remember any pattern that takes wool can use flannel woolies instead.

Using pieces of sparkly things from her prom dress, I love this fun dress on this fun lady!

take a spin!

The Fizz dress by “Daas” using Licorice Fizz

Thomas Knauer kindly donated this fabric from his Savanna Bop collection, it’s such fun! The Metro Mod Quilters of NYC are busy creating baby quilts for charity so I’ve used a sew and slash method to whip up a quick quilt that shows the fabric off.  The inserted strips from Pat Stone were useful for the binding as well, I’m just finishing that off today.

www.andoverfabrics.com

November 2012

I’ve just heard that this will be given to a family in New Jersey who have been affected by hurricane Sandy. So glad it was ready to go with 200 others to where it can be used right now.

http://bumblebeansbasics.com/

This was a gift from a friend (Whales and Tails from Andover Fabrics). Don’t you just love a fat quarter!

I’m working on a quilt for Kelly Lee-Creel. Her adorable “Storybook Lane” line from Andover will debut at Market.  She calls the quilt pattern “Falling Stars” and it’s a variation of tumbling blocks with a method that allows machine piecing.  Oh, yes it does!!

The trick is to be organized. Okay, it’s not a trick ~ it’s an absolute MUST.  LOTS of cutting and labeling and stacking and pairing and sewing and labeling and cutting and ….You get the idea.  But if you like that kind of thing (and I really do) you’ll love this. This little pad of stickies-that-don’t came in really handy for building the strip sets, which is great since they were pretty much useless for notes.

For a look at the whole collection (including some amazing panels for creating houses and storybook characters), scoot on over to the Andover website or click on one of the links above for Kelly’s blog (everkelly.com).  And then put a fresh blade in your rotary cutter!

Expect another peek or two through the weekend as this comes together ~ it has to be in Kansas City by 5/14!

I’ll be putting up info and links on any patterns and projects made with Tokyo Rococo both here on the blog and on the website.  Our first quilt photo shoot attached below:

Also took some shots of the last fat quarters I put together from advance yardage before they got sent out.  I had a blast transforming my dining room into a cutting table,  and making up these little packages…can’t wait to see what people do with them, stay tuned!

I’ll be putting up info and links on any patterns and projects made with Tokyo Rococo both here on the blog and on the website.  Our first quilt photo shoot attached below:

Also took some shots of the last fat quarters I put together from advance yardage before they got sent out.  I had a blast transforming my dining room into a cutting table,  and making up these little packages…can’t wait to see what people do with them, stay tuned!

the big box

I opened it up…

the box opened

I unloaded it….

out of the box but still in the plastic

I unwrapped it…

plastic is off

Then I started to unroll and cut it up….then I realized that it is quite a big project and I simply would not be able to finish tonight.

I resorted to taking a few more pictures.  Firsts only happen once!

Tomorrow, in better lighting shall shoot some more photos for the future…then back to cutting in up.  Have to get it into some people’s hands pronto!

what’s that?

Its Tokyo Rococo, my first fabric collection.  This is just a small amount of advance yardage, the rest is on the the boat.  Available for wholesale now through Andover Fabrics Inc. (great people there by the way), in stores January.  It really is a bit exciting.  Thank you for sharing the journey.

the big box

I opened it up…

the box opened

I unloaded it….

out of the box but still in the plastic

I unwrapped it…

plastic is off

Then I started to unroll and cut it up….then I realized that it is quite a big project and I simply would not be able to finish tonight.

I resorted to taking a few more pictures.  Firsts only happen once!

Tomorrow, in better lighting shall shoot some more photos for the future…then back to cutting in up.  Have to get it into some people’s hands pronto!

what’s that?

Its Tokyo Rococo, my first fabric collection.  This is just a small amount of advance yardage, the rest is on the the boat.  Available for wholesale now through Andover Fabrics Inc. (great people there by the way), in stores January.  It really is a bit exciting.  Thank you for sharing the journey.

They have a bunch of amazing new designers from a variety of backgrounds with really innovative collections.  And their seasoned stars keep at it with such high quality lines.  I’m super proud to be part of the team.  Hey, check out my name on the banner. (I don’t use this blog for self promotion usually, please translate this as me sharing my excitement!)

And I got to hear about Andover’s future plans and vision and all I can say is hold onto your hats, and stay tuned…..

And here is a pic of some of the gentlemen (did I say that?) from Andover Fabrics.  That is John Conneely on the left, recently retired VP of Sales, described by a rep to me as “the best in the business”.  John was my first contact at Andover and set the tone and became part of the reason they topped my list.  Dennis Bevins (on the right), is the new National Sales Manager, and after spending time with him, I heartily approve  (plus he gets the best dressed award).    In the middle is David Weinstein, the President of Andover Fabrics, who grew up in the business and is the reason the company has been so successful.

The money shot! John Conneely, David Weinstein, Dennis Bevins

It was bustling!

]]> http://theplaidportico.com/2011/10/31/quilt-market-2011-andover-fabrics/ Tue, 01 Nov 2011 00:04:00 +0000 Carol Van Zandt http://theplaidportico.com/2011/10/31/quilt-market-2011-andover-fabrics/ I am thrilled to be designing for Andover Fabrics and will be even more excited when my first collection, Tokyo Rococo, comes out in January.   Best thing about it is that this year at Quilt Market, rather than tromping around pitching to different companies like last year, I had an opportunity to see all of Andover’s collections in detail including the many future collections, and what can I say but …”wow!” … “so cool” and “pretty hot!”

They have a bunch of amazing new designers from a variety of backgrounds with really innovative collections.  And their seasoned stars keep at it with such high quality lines.  I’m super proud to be part of the team.  Hey, check out my name on the banner. (I don’t use this blog for self promotion usually, please translate this as me sharing my excitement!)

And I got to hear about Andover’s future plans and vision and all I can say is hold onto your hats, and stay tuned…..

And here is a pic of some of the gentlemen (did I say that?) from Andover Fabrics.  That is John Conneely on the left, recently retired VP of Sales, described by a rep to me as “the best in the business”.  John was my first contact at Andover and set the tone and became part of the reason they topped my list.  Dennis Bevins (on the right), is the new National Sales Manager, and after spending time with him, I heartily approve  (plus he gets the best dressed award).    In the middle is David Weinstein, the President of Andover Fabrics, who grew up in the business and is the reason the company has been so successful.

The money shot! John Conneely, David Weinstein, Dennis Bevins

It was bustling!

]]> http://terificreations.wordpress.com/2011/10/21/creative-sewing-center-frixion-pens/ Fri, 21 Oct 2011 14:46:46 +0000 Teri Lucas Terificreations http://terificreations.wordpress.com/2011/10/21/creative-sewing-center-frixion-pens/ I can’t say it enough, I love teaching machine quilting.  The irony of that statement is that early on I used to say, “if its not hand quilted it’s not a quilt”.    Yep, I’m one who said that to people.   Then I had the eye opening experience of going to a quilt show and seeing the amazing work by other quilt makers and a new path in quilting begins.

I like where this path has taken me.  I get to play for work!  Oh yes a lot of time, effort and energy went into being able to follow this path and I need to keep working on honing my skills and that includes being open to learning and embracing new to me quilting ideas.

This skill honing includes listening to my students and seeing how I can better teach, how can I be more encouraging and help my students get from, “I can’t do that!” to “Oh not only can I do that, I’m going to!”  This is an important shift in the machine quilting process.  The biggest difference between my students and I – I have a lot more time logged in at the machine, I’ve gone through all of those frustrating moments trying to figure out what’s wrong and why isn’t this working.  I’ve had a lot of aha moments.

October 15 & 16 at Creative Sewing had each of those moments.

Congratulations to Gary Drinkwater the new owner of Creative Sewing Center!  The new location is FABULOUS!!!!  Bright and open and ready for quilters and sewists alike!  When you’re in Maine take the trip to Auburn and visit this delightful shop.  Great fabrics and sewing machines.  Saturday I taught on the 820, Sunday on the 55oQE.  These are both great machines for quilting.  I’m going to set up dates to head back to teach again in April.

See the shoes in the photo above?  Kathy, who teaches sewing in the shop had these great Birkenstocks on.  I told her I had a pair just like it in my car, went out and changed.  My sister said this would make a great quilt, shes right!  It’ll be on my some day list.

Several of the students took classes both days.  Thanks ladies!  On Saturday one of the gals marked her quilt with a Frixion pen.  (She’s sending me pictures soon.)  Marking your quilt top with these pens is great, they’re not gunky and write smoothly on the fabric.  I wrote her a note on the practice piece – note it was batted & backed at the time so I was writing with the batting there.  She went home pressed out the marks.  They disappeared as they’re supposed to. I’d heard from several sources that when these marks get cold (below 40 degrees) the marks come back.

She then washed & dried the quilt then stuck it in the freezer over night.  No marks came back.

So probably not quite as scientific as needed however a good test.  I’m thinking the key is to wash the quilt which most of us do anyway to either just wash it before giving it to the intended receiver or blocking it for a quilt show.

If you have any doubt about the markings from the Frixion pens coming out  do a control study at home using 4 fq’s

the first should be left alone for a “control”

the second mark it up, quilt it and iron it and leave it for a week

the third mark up, quilt it,  iron it & freeze it to see what happens

the third mark up, quilt it, iron wash & dry & freeze

Use some kind of marking system so you can keep track of the samples.  With any kind of marking system check to make sure they won’t leave residual color behind later on.  Sometimes the dye in the pen will just react with your fabric in a most unpleasant way.

If you happen to be attending Quilt Market in Houston check out the Kaleidoscope Collections booth and the Andover booth.  I’ll have quilts that I quilted in both booths!  I’ll be able to post pictures sometime after Market starts.

Happy quilting!

Teri

These are fun to make. It’s fun to see all of the fabrics I’ve used in other projects together.

I’m super stingy with my fabric so I try to eek out every last bit. Before I started making these I cut the selvages off as close as I could so I had the most possible fabric to work with. Now I’m cutting a bit more off when trimming the selvages to make my selvage blocks prettier, more of the print will show through. I know it’s not wasting fabric so that makes it easier to cut the extra.

They are super quick blocks to whip up, I love foundation piecing!

I purchased a deep dark rich purple batik and an incredibly bright orange and some Superior Thread – an Emerald Green Metallic for “Moon over Manhattan”.  For some reason as I type the purple might be for Brooklyn…”Bridge to Brooklyn” seems just right and ideas start floating through my head… I see more thread shopping in my future.

Superior Threads will be debuting their new silk line “Kimono” in the spring, I’ve heard June.  Oh dear…I foresee another shopping trip for me!

Thursday night we met up with some folks from the old Alex Anderson message board.  Meeting Howdy and SmileDarlin‘  finally was terrific.  We’d been playing tag at Neen’s for a couple of years now.  Both Cheryl and Lori are just welcoming and sweet.   After dinner the group had show & tell, I dashed out after the 3rd person because I was staying with Julie that night and wanted a chance to chat with her.  Julie is a new quilter and is quite the natural.  She’s getting quite good with her Bernina 440QE.  She had a quilt on the machine while I was there and her skill level is very good for a beginner.  I got to play with her machine Friday morning before we dashed out to the quilt show to finish a wee bit of quilting on her son’s quilt.  One of the best things about spending time with Jules is that she’s quite funny and tells great stories about her kids…she kept us laughing.  And kindly brought me to a store where I could get jammies because I’d left mine at home.

Our first quilt shop that morning was Piece by Piece where Cheryl works.  If you’re ever in Ephrata stop by, it’s a great shop with fabulous classroom space.  I purchased the 4 patch stacked posie by HD Designs to possibly teach at one of the local quilt shops.  I’m going to make a small one to get the technique as soon as I can.

Next stop – Liberty for the parking and shuttle to the main show.  We walked around these vendors were fab!  I purchased some of the Robert Kaufman Radiance line that a shop (not on line yet).  They purchased prepared for dyeing and dyed the fabric.  Oh my goodness!  I’m in love!!!  Totally.  I had Elizabeth Rosenberg & Benedicte Caniell laughing as I told them about the feel of the cloth!  I purchased some Aurifil thread that matches the color perfectly.  Saturday I went back and bought more of the Radiance.  I have not been so excited about a new fabric line since I was first introduced to Moda Marbles and learned about batiks!

I stopped by the Hobbs booth and purchased a queen size Tuscany Silk Batting. I have several things in mind for this including “Moon Over Manhattan” and the Radiance pieces.  I can hardly wait to see how this quilts.

I’ll get some pics up tomorrow or Saturday of who I got to meet in person, other stops we made and how funny Charlotte Angotti is!

Teri

On to the projects that will be in the line up for 2010.  Last year was mostly wedding quilts for friends.  My citrus colored quilt is complete.  After months of working on the quilting and ripping out stitches, it has been delivered.  I love the contrast of colors and the effect of the large blocks.  The veragated thread keeps the colors blending all over the quilt.  The black and white border really adds some pop to the overall look.  Black is my favorite color to accent any project with.  My original plan for this quilt was the Cascading Colors pattern.  I thought that pattern might detract from the yellow block’s center print. 

This year there will be two confirmed baby quilts and possibly more to come.  I’m also finishing a couple of wedding quilts that are overdue.  Yes, I am a slacker on some of these projects.  Most of the time, the project is bigger than I anticipated.  Better yet, life happens and sewing doesn’t happen for a few days. 

I’m taking orders for custom quilts during 2010 is anyone is looking for a special gift. 

During my last days working at the quilt shop, I purchased fabric to finally make myself a quilt.  In 10 years of quilting, I have never kept a project.  Over the last few months I have been contemplating making a Log Cabin quilt.  This is much more traditional for me and would be a great challenge.  I would actually have to follow a pattern to make this turn out decent.  Also, since I will be getting married this spring, it’s appropriate to make myself a wedding quilt. 

The fabric choice was easy since our color palette is pretty neutral around the house.  My dark print is a Lonni Rossi Andover print from her Paint Box collection.  Can’t wait to show pictures throughout the winter/spring.

Please take a moment and visit the site–the group of volunteers in the states has mobilize their efforts with their contacts in Haiti. If you’re like me, you want to help–but sometimes feel at a loss to make a real difference.  Here’s an opportunity to help families that so far have been out of the reach of the international relief efforts. They need our help.