My Sweetwater Goodness

If you are looking for the Fat Quarter Shop Hometown giveaway click here. The winner will be picked tomorrow when I wake up so get your entries in today.

Dont you just love all the great projects that my guest bloggers shared with you this week? I know I am even more inspired now...my to do list has grown this week.

I thought that I would share some of my Sweetwater projects too.

Did I mention that I absolutely love table runners? Did I mention that I absolutely love any fabric with words on it?

These projects meet both of those loves, so it was a win/win all around for me. Here's 2 table runners that are made with the same pattern but with 2 different lines. I used Make Life and Pure for these. The pattern is The August Fresh and Fancy Table Runner pattern by Cotton Way. I got this as a kit from last years table runner club at The Fat Quarter Shop. The Make Life one was the first thing I ever made with Sweetwater fabric and I was hooked after this project. I hadn't been quilting for too long at this point. Then I decided to do the same one in Pure. My living/dining room is blue and brown so this matched perfectly. I think I am going to give my oldest son, Bryan the Pure one, he needs something for his new apartment and these are his colors too.

Make Life...

Pure

I also decked out my living room in Pure...I just love the colors and all the writing of course. Here the pillows I made.I finished these pillow in less than 30 minutes.

And here's the quilt made with Pure. This one my son Bryan stole for his apartment, but I made a new quilt for him so I am taking it back next time I see him :)

Then I got my hands on some Sunkissed. I did the Spring Quilt Along with Above All Fabric. I love how this came out. You can't tell but the center square is fussy cut to say life.

That's all I have finished so far. I am hard at work on the Home Sweet Home quilt right now. * arrow pieces done and 40 to go, which I will finish today. Here's a peak at what I have done so far...

I hope you have been enjoying Sweetwater Month here at Craizee Corners. I'd love to know which is your favorite projects from the week. Here's a link to all the guest blogger posts...

Monday - All Things Belle
Tuesday - Cara Quilts
Wednesday - Little Treasurers by Amanda
Friday - Quilt Dad

A special thanks to Fat Quarter Shop for making this series even more special! Be sure to visit them. It's a great way to do some retail therapy in your PJs!

Sha :)

See What Quilt Dad has for us today...

If you are looking for the Hometown giveaway click here.

Today John Adams is back to show us some of his Sweetwater projects! He has a wonderful blog called Quilt Dad and is also involved in FatQuarterly. Please be sure to visit his blogs and tell him Sha sent you!

Thanks, Sharon, for hosting me here on your blog during Sweetwater month! When Sharon put out a call for guest bloggers over on Twitter a few weeks back, as soon as I heard the posts would be about Sweetwater I just had jump in. After spending the past few months moving, working, and otherwise busy with life stuff in general, this was the perfect excuse to get me back into the sewing room so that I’d have something to show. Plus, the timing worked out perfectly -- my Sweetwater creation turned out to be the perfect gift for a swap recipient.

But more on that in a minute.

First, let me talk a little bit about my introduction to the design team known as Sweetwater. As soon as I caught sight of their debut line for Moda, Authentic, in early 2010, I was hooked. The colors were amazing, especially the careful use of black. The designs were highly appealing -- casual and accessible without being novelty, and sophisticated in a way that didn’t take itself too seriously. A difficult balance to achieve, actually. And that newsprint. Oh, after seeing that text print there was no turning back.

I actually made a pillow tutorial for the Moda Bake Shop using pre-cuts of Authentic.

Let’s fast forward just a little bit to my first-ever Quilt Market in the spring of 2010. My first purchase at my first sample spree at my first ever quilt market was a fat quarter bundle of Sweetwater’s second line, Pure. I love that line. I hoarded that pack for almost a year before I (reluctantly) sent it across the pond to my friend Katy. I’d be bitter about it if what she made with it wasn’t so freakin’ amazing.

I also had the great fortune to get to meet Karla, Susan, and Lisa -- the names and faces behind Sweetwater -- at market. They are three of the nicest, sweetest, most genuine and down-to-earth people that you could ever hope to meet. Meeting them actually added a whole new level of appeal to their products for me.

I say “products” because this talented team produces way more than fabric. Just check out their fun shop to see what else they’ve cooked up -- prints, labels, scrapbooking supplies, and quilt patterns. GREAT quilt patterns, in fact. I’m using one right now to make a quilt using my friend Thomas Knauer’s new fabric line, Pear Tree.

Anyhow, back to Sweetwater. Next came Make Life, and then Sunkissed. Sunkissed inspired me to start the popular Bloggers’ Block-a-Palooza quilt-along that featured the line. I also made a really great quilt for my mother with Sunkissed, though I don’t have any good pictures of it to share yet.

It was also about this time that the Sweetwater team and I were both contributors to the super fun Moda Bake Shop Fresh Fabric Treats book. Here’s a picture (courtesy of Kim Walus) of a book signing that we did together at Spring Quilt Market earlier this year in Salt Lake City. Lisa from Sweetwater is 4th from the left. I’m ... well, I’m pretty sure you can figure out which one is me.

Thanks to Kim Walus of bitty bits & pieces for the great pic.

Which brings us to their newest line, Hometown. Yep, you’d better believe I’ve stocked up on a little bit of this line. No immediate plans for it yet, but I want to be ready when inspiration strikes.

But I am excited perhaps most of all about Sweetwater’s next line, Reunion. Why? It’s all about those navy and grey prints. Navy + grey is my favorite color combination, but you don’t see it appear very often in quilting fabrics. Oh yeah, and the bunting. I’m super stoked about that bunting print.




OK, let’s show the project I created for today’s post. When I was faced with creating a little something to feature Sweetwater’s fabrics, I knew almost immediately that I wanted to pull out my precious Authentic scraps left over from my pillow projects. Inspiration struck when I remembered a mini quilt that I had made once before using a pattern called Bay Breeze by Monica Solorio-Snow (the Happy Zombie) and featured in an older issue of Quilts and More magazine (Summer ’08). I knew the two would be a great match.



As luck would have it, I had also signed up for a mini quilt swap in my local guild, the Triangle Modern Quilt Guild, and I thought my swap partner (Kait) would really like this quilt. So, as much as I was in love with the finished product, I gifted it to another talented quilter. Don’t worry about me, though -- I received a fantastic quilt in its place!




Thanks John for sharing all that Sweetwater goodness with us!

Come back tomorrow for more Sweetwater fun!

Sha :)

... --- ...

Do you know what ... --- ... means?

I have always been fascinated with Morse code, it amazes me that people used to be able to communicate with each other that way. And this bit of Morse code is probably the most popular or well known bit. It stands for SOS. SOS is not an acronym or abbreviation, but it is a signal indicating distress.

I have had this SOS pattern in my mind for a while and the fat quarter kit that I just finished showing you (the one from John Adams) seemed like the perfect fabric for it. I call this version of the quilt The SOS That Was Never Saved. That's because anything that could go wrong did go wrong, including piercing my middle finger nail with a very sharp machine needle. That happened when I was sewing the binding on. And the binding is another story, I thought I would get fancy and use the blanket stitch, but I was in a rush and didn't measure the binding right so there's big parts and little parts. But I don't care I love it anyway. So here's my newest quilt and my first original design!

To me this quilt shows the urgency of the distress call, by the time you get to the top the calls are coming in faster. I do plan on making another one of these quilts and will have a tutorial out soon, but I couldn't wait to show it to you!

Oh and can you figure out what's funky with the pic?

Sha :)

Getting to know Quilt Dad Better

How did you like my little quiz? Was it easy or hard? How well do you really know Quilt Dad?

Here's the correct answers...

1. What was the first fabric you choose for your FQ kit?

I started with this print from the Prince Charming line by Tula Pink as my jumping-off point:

Prince Charming was about to be released when I made my selections, and I really wanted to include pieces of it in my bundle. I chose this print because it allowed me to go in many directions with my remaining selections, and it is from this print that I began going down the path of focusing on teals and greys.
I think this may surprise some people because, in the final bundle, it's one of the more recessive prints -- a supporting player, if you will, behind the strong tones of green and navy blue. I guess it just goes to show that you can start building a palette of prints and solids from anywhere -- you don't have to start with the most dominant fabric!

If you chose B then you got it right!

2. What is your favorite fabric or fabric line currently and why?

Wow, this is always such a tough question. Let's see ... I'm crushing hard on Melody Miller's newest line, Ruby Star Spring. I just love the colors, the gorgeous linen-like feel of the base cloth, and that giant bee. I'm planning a quilt with nice, big blocks -- and lots of solids -- to feature this line.

I'm also a big fan of Happy Mochi Yum Yum, Monica Solorio-Snow's newest line for Lecien. The colors are so vibrant and the prints so ... well, happy! What else would you expect from the Happy Zombie herself? I'm currently in full-on hoard mode of this line -- don't know what I want to make yet, but I want to be prepared when I figure it out.

Finally, although it's not even out yet, I simply cannot wait to get my hands on some of Lizzy House's new line, Outfoxed. To get me through the months until it's released, I've been getting my fix with some of Lizzy's Outfoxed embroidery patterns.

So if you guessed A your right!

3. What is your favorite sports team?
Well, I grew up in New York City, so I find myself rooting for the Yankees and the Jets ... but moving to North Carolina, as one might expect, has converted me from a pro sports fan to a college sports fan. I'm a UNC graduate so you can always find me cheering on my Tar Heels ... especially when March Madness rolls around, and even more especially any time they're playing Dook.

Correct answer was D!

4.  What publication are you involved in?

I hope that, by now, many of you are familiar with Fat Quarterly (http://www.fatquarterly.com). It's a completely digital e-zine created by modern quilters, for modern quilters. My fellow FQ team members (Katy Jones, Tacha Bruecher, and Brioni Greenberg) and I work hard to bring fun new patterns, activities, features and information to the modern quilting community. Aside from maintaining a very active blog, we publish a collection of patterns in a fun and easy-to-read electronic format four times per year (hence the "quarterly" in our name!)

The strength of Fat Quarterly is its authentic roots in the modern quilting community, and we invite all quilters everywhere to get involved in FQ in many different ways. Come on over and visit -- we'd love to see you there!

Those of you that said C...Bravo!

 

 

Now for some really exciting news...

The 5th question I asked John was

If you had to pick another FQ kit for the Fat Quarter Shop what fabrics would you use? But I couldn't figure out a good way to make it a multiple choice question so I saved it for a surprise! Here's what John came up with and the great news is that it is now a Fat Quarter Shop FQ kit! That's right this one question started the ball rolling for another kit! How cool is that? Here's a pic of it and here's the link so you can be among the first to buy it! and tell them Sha sent you.

If you are wondering which fabric is in this kit here's the list:

Ruby Star Spring Stone Cross Stitch Bees Yardage SKU# JG-56100-101C

Ruby Star Spring Eggplant Flower Dots YardageSKU# JG-56100-100C

Dazzle Magenta Circles YardageSKU# 5417-E

Dazzle Dark Teal Flowers YardageSKU# 5420-T

Dazzle Teal Jewel Yardage SKU# 5416-T

Hyperreal Garden Warm Illusion YardageSKU# HG-8407

Nature Elements Orchid Bloom YardageSKU# NE-110

Oval Elements Crocus YardageSKU# OE-908

I Heart Orange Squiggle YardageSKU# C8175-Orange

I Heart Pink Squiggle YardageSKU# C8175-Pink

Sketch Aqua Screen Texture YardageSKU# C8224-Aqua

Juicy Blossoms Teal Geometric Daisies Yardage SKU# 21820-Q

Juicy Blossoms Orange Spreading Seeds Yardage SKU# 21822-O

Now onto some other great news...
The winner of the Dquilt Dad FQ kit is...

33 Timestamp: 2011-09-09 13:35:28 UTC

Congrats Carolyn! I have emailed you. Thanks for playing along everyone!

Part 2 of the Designer Select series starts on Monday. I have some great guest bloggers set up and you will absolutely scream when you see what The Fat Quarter Shop is letting me giveaway next week!

Sha :)

Here's Quilt Dad...

Today I have a treat for you.
You know how I love FQ kits from the Fat Quarter Shop? Well I recently fell in love with another kit, one that's not in the Designer Select FQ Club. Did you know the Fat Quarter Shop also has kits put together by some bloggers? The first one is by my friend John Adams, otherwise known as Quilt Dad. Here's a pic of the FQ kit. Isn't it great? I have had a pattern knocking around in my head for a while and this seemed the perfect fabric for this. It's an original Craizee Corners design, which I hope to share with you by the end of the week.

So today and tomorrow we decided to play a little game. I am going to give you a quiz and I'd love you to answer the questions. Then tomorrow come back to find out all the answers.

Oh and did I tell you that Fat Quarter Shop has sweetened the pot but allowing me to giveaway one these FQ kits? There's only 1 way to enter, but this is for followers of Craizee Corners only so make sure you are a follower (it doesn't count as an entry, its just a pre-requisite). And if you follow Quilt Dad that would be great too.

To enter answer the questions. They are multiple choice so it won't take long. This is a short giveaway, I will pick the winner on Friday morning (September 9th) so don't dilly dally and miss your chance to win this fabulous prize.

I'd also love to know what you would make with this so if you would like to add that to your answer that would be great too.

Let's get to know Quilt Dad better. Are you ready for the quiz?

1. What was the first fabric you choose for your FQ kit?
A.  Just Wing It Water Four Petals

B. Prince Charming Cream Dandelion

C.Modern Workshop Courtyard Green French Curve

D. Dazzle Sky Blue Vine

2. What is your favorite fabric or fabric line currently?

A. Melody Miller - Ruby Star Spring

B. Sweetwater - Hometown

C. Suzy Ultman Appleville

D. Citron Gray by Michael Miller

3. What is your favorite sports team?

A. New York Yankees

B. North Carolina Tar Heels

C. New York Jets

D. All of the above

4. What publication are you involved in?

A. Fat Quarter Shop Jolly Jabber

B. Moda Bake Shop

C. FatQuarterly

D. None of the above

There you go 4 questions to answer. You are still entered in the drawing even if you fail the quiz :)

Remember you have 48 hours to answer. Come back tomorrow for the answers and even more fun with Quilt Dad.

Sha :)