V and Co: at spring market 2012

 summer is in full swing over here and i am working on small amount of time in between noisemakers needing something or needing to be redirected. :) (currently im on my couch with noisemaker's #3 feet up in the air arguing across my lap (and laptop) with the girl noisemaker about speaking spanish and french. i don't really know what they are talking about nor do i pretend that at the moment i want to touch that with a ten foot pole, or in my case lift my eyes and deal with it)

so here's a quick version of my quilt corner experience. it started on wednesday driving down to kansas city and then getting there and setting up. the heat was brutal in there setting up, i wasnt feeling that great and i think the heat was a little push for the need to buy some cleratin for the allergy relief i was looking for.
thursday was spent in meetings and schoolhouse.

 friday was when it all kind of became real. this is me standing on the floor of market in my little corner.
 the allergy thing got worse enough to make me want to squeeze my head to relieve some of the stuffiness going on in there, and i had some kind of sexy low voice thing that came with it. pretty sure i sounded like i should have been singing in a smoky lounge with the stage name of "Star" but you do what you need to do and i "sexy" talked all day long friday through sunday. maybe it helped my sales. don't know...

 i got to sign my book at the moda booth which was lots of fun. even if i forgot how to sign my last name for a minute (pretty sure the cleratin was wearing off by that time!)

i made a few pillows to demonstrate and show off some of the fun texture stuff we do in my book and in my craftsy class (dude, we have over 1,700 students in the class! whoot!!!)
and the faux pleated pillow can be found here

 

and i wanted to show off just how cool the ombre dots were in the line and how easy it would be to use it as a skirt for yourself,or in adorable poofs!

 and as cute dresses and skirts for little girls (top right hand side behind the lame-o trying to do a sexy pose to go with her sexy voice = fail...nope more like epic fail.) THANK YOU AMY who made the cute dresses for me. :) and the skirt im wearing. :)

 the thing i wanted to do with this line is make sure that it would appeal to a large variety of people. i wanted it to be used for quilts and blankets, but i also wanted people who like to make decor to like it as well, and then of course the people who love apparel and hand bags and accessories.
i love how it all came together.
i hope i can create another line i love as much. ;)

 here's amy of diary of a quilter, hanging out with the 3 monchromatic ombre quilts she made for my booth.

picture via diary of a quilter

just a little over a yard and half of continuous of the ombre fabric will make the top of these chic baby blankets.  and the backing fabric is as well part of my line. tutorial coming in the fall when the fabric comes out. :) that way i don't torture you too much by showing you how to make it without being able to get some of the fabric! :)

picture via in color order

the 2 amy's werent the only ones that helped me make this market happen.  megan (ahem and megan's awesome sheriff of a dad that likes to sew), jeni, and deedee were there to help me the month prior to market as well. these girls helped at market, but they were there when we were sewing up a storm to make the quilts in a weekend, and to test bag patterns, and keep me positive and not overwhelmed. 

and then of course my quilts needed to be quilted and they were shipped off to Darla Padilla, who did a wonderful turn around sometimes in one day a few quilts. :)

so yeah. all of it looked just how i wanted to look. and i had wonderful a bunch of people that helped make that picture happen up there happen, including my wonderful husband that put his life on hold of over a week and kept the house even cleaner than i had it when i left.

here's a few links:
bloom quilt (flowers): pattern by V and Co.
hopscotch quilt (stars): pattern by V and Co.
skirt: free tutorial coming in the fall
chelsea bag:  pattern by V and Co.
pillows: craftsy.com sewing texture with vanessa christenson, and make it sew modern by vanessa chrstenson. (e-book available as well)
ombre quilts: free tutorial coming in the fall

phew!
okay check on kids. they're too quiet for my liking.
we'll talk soon.

V and Co: at the lake

 happy Memorial Day.
we are enjoying our family and the weather and our freedom due to all the sacrifices made in our behalf. every day is a blessing and i am so indebted to those who have made it that way. thank you for your service, thank you for your sacrifices, thank you for your valor. :)
today we are celebrating memorial day with a little bit of BBQ-ing and a little bit of lake. we are scoping this place out for future camping excursions.
this is the closest thing to a beach i've been to in a long time. it has made me super happy and somewhat nostalgic watching my kids play in the sand having my husband next to me complaining its hot, and having sand be in all the wrong places by the end of the day.
it.was.blissful.
:D
have a fantastic day.
i am.
talk to you soon.

V and Co: new patterns spring 2012

 i am sooo excited to FINALLY show you my new patterns for my company and for my new fabric line.
this has been a lot of work (ahem hence the silence on the blog) but it is by all means very exciting and i hope you share the same excitement with me.
first we have:
Bloom 
bloom was created with a junior jelly roll just like the one i showed in this post where the ombre fabrics in my line were packaged all together in their own little entity. expect more ideas to come for these little ombre jelly rolls in the months to come.

the stats on bloom are:
finished 60" x 68"
1 Simply Color Ombre Junior Jelly Roll™
(21-2½" x WOF strips)(10800JRO)
Background & Border: 3½ yards (9900 200 Bella Solid)
Inner Border: 1/3 yard 10800-14)
Binding: 5/8 yard (10806-19)
Backing: 3½ yards
Pellon Wonder Fusible Web #807: 4 yards
comes in pdf, and paper 

next we have:

 Hopscotch
i absolutely love this pattern. and yes, that cat is our cat, and yes, she totally got in there without me meaning for her to place herself right smack in the middle of the picture. it turned out to be a perfect picture, but what you don't see is that the cat is staring at my daughter and the dog yelling/barking at her to move out of the picture. i was okay with it...but apparently the other two on the sideline didn't like that she got to be in the picture and they didnt. 

the stats on hopscotch are:
finished: 81" x 81"
Supplies:
Stars: 1 one Layer Cake™ (42-10" x 10")(10800LC)
Setting Squares: One Jelly Roll™ (40-2½" x WOF) (10800JR)
Background: 4½ yards (Bella Solid 9900 200)
Binding: ¾ yard (10806-18)
Backing: 4 yards
available in pdf and paper

and then we have my new bag pattern:
 

 the Chelsea Bag
i didnt' want to not have any new patterns without some kind of texture! soo check out this little lady.

we are venturing into new kinds of texture on this bag, my version of the honey comb placed on the large outside pocket.
it's been killing me to not be able to wear it so that it stayed looking it's best for market, but now that market is over...i'm going to sport her around everywhere, AND look for a linen looking version of her as well. (when i get a few minutes to myself...haha)

the stats on chelsea:
finished dimensions 19½" x 4" x 12½" 
supplies:
Bag Outside: 5/8 yard (10806-15)
Bag Lining: 5/8 yard (10801-15)
Outside textured pocket: 11/8 yard (10801-25)
Fusible light weight lining 20” x 29”
Pellon 931TD (for Handles)
Pellon TP971F (for Bag inside lining)
2 Snaps
comes in pdf and paper 

i am so tired. :)
but in a good way.
i've been gone for a week.
i need to take care of things around here and enjoy my family and house for a few minutes. but then i will download my market pictures.
for now i'm going to take a breather.

and while i do please take a 40% off of all my patterns. at check out add the code: 40PDF for pdfs and 40PAPER for the paper patterns.
but act quick because it's ends in 24 hours.


 sale over thank you!!!!!!
;) we'll talk soon

working working and a winner

i'm almost done. well, no. i'm almost out of time. today and tomorrow are my last days to sew. tomorrow i have to pack, and then on wednesday i drive and head to quilt market to set up. 
pfew! 
are you so tired of hearing i'm working so hard can't wait to show you! yeah, i'm tired to saying too. but tomorrow i'll show off my patterns, and well start selling them. because they are done. yay!!
i'm very excited to show them off, and even more excited to show them off in my fabrics. they turned out great.
but i'm not done yet. still need to finish a few projects like these pillows from my book (just updated in my fabric) and a few more little things here and there. :)


okay so for our geared for guys giveaway. i had a BLAST reading your entries. i was laughing soo hard!
one thing is for sure: we love our men. they are good GOOD men, with some silly and sometimes gross habits. but thankfully our love of them totally makes it kind of okay and even funny to have them be who they are all the guts and glory. :)


so our two winners are:

brooke
and
Nicole

and your info has been given to emily and she will be contacting you shortly!
okay off to finish sewing...and packing...so i can show you what i've been working on!!!
we'll talk soon!!!! 

V and Co: attracting pretty beetles

this house has a back yard.
this house's back yard is super bare.
it has nothing in it... and that includes trees, shrubs or patio furniture.

compared to our last backyards
this backyard is boring and really kind of sad.
i can almost hear it weep how sad it is.
over the next few decades (cause it's going to take us that long!) we would like to have a nice little backyard retreat, that will be a great place to BBQ and gather together as a couple and family.

and well this last weekend, i got the family started on that mission.
everyone was happy.<---just look at the husband's face, what? oh...yeah well he's happy inside. his face was just tired and didn't really reflect how he was REALLY feeling.
(he's going to laugh real hard when he sees that picture... well at least i am!)

we have such a long way to go in this yard, but it's okay. i think the kids actually kind of miss working in the yard together as a family. (they had equally tired faces, except for the that one pictured there)
we kind of had fun.
no really we did. :)

this tree is supposed to attract butterflies

so this time around we planted a few trees. three to be exact.
one of the trees is supposed to attract butterflies, (or so it says on the tag) and two are birches...which i was just told today, attracts some kind of beetle.
wha???
it didn't say that on the stupid tag.
honestly, i don't have a clue about this gardening zone, we're trying to figure stuff out, there are things out here that i've never seen grow back west, and there are some scary bugs that go with the gardening season out here as well...that i totally would much rather not have to deal with if i can. and of course i pick three trees, two of which attract a scary japaneese beetle of some sort...

well good news is the guy assured me that indeed it would attract the beetle BUT that it was a green, shiney, AND kind of pretty beetle.

yeah, i don't think so.
unless it can sing hey jude, or be one i can drive,  it aint a beetle i want to attract thank you very much.
sigh.
now how to break it to the husband that the happy maker he had to plant this weekend is going to bring us shiny PRETTY green beetles?
blarg.
i should stick to sewing.

V and Co: Geared For Guys book review and giveaway

oh now see i told you we were going to have a "couple of book reviews and giveaways" here's the second one. :)

but first the winners of the pat sloan book is:

Linda said...HELLO! I WANTED TO GO WITH SOMETHING ORIGINAL,BUT I COULD NOT-I'D MAKE ONE LIKE YOURS-SO BEAUTIFUL!
THANKS FOR SHARING!
thanks linda, pretty sure pat loves the compliment! :)
and the second winner is :
I think I would like to do this quilt in pinks and brown.
Barb
well barb you get a book and now you can give it a shot!

NOW
this week we have a completely different kind of book we're looking at and doing a giveaway for. it's by my friend emily herrick. her book comes out soon and it's called Geared for Guys.
we all have a special guy in our life...and well sometimes they don't want to be under a flowery kind of quilt do they?
here's a book just for them
read more and and how to enter following this link

V and Co: today

as i pick up the thing that used to be my kind of clean house, i reflect on the simple daily routines that make me happy.
i like to have a clean house.
mowed lawn.
and clean laundry.

i feel like none of those things have been on my radar while i get ready for market.

yesterday, was chaotic, today i want to get my house a little more in order. so today i am putting aside sewing and i will try to tackle some of those things. except the mowing, that's already done.

 in my chaoticness of a week i did get something fun in the mail, Quilty is fons and porters modern magazine. its super cute!

 in this issue it talks a little about the awesomness that is iowa (yeah that's right i've been here almost 9 months and i'm embracing the iowan-ess in me that i never knew i had)
we've seen some of these painted on quilt blocks as we've driven to different places. these awesome quilt blocks are found on the side of barns. who wouldn't love a state that puts big huge 'ol quilt blocks as large as the side of your barn? seriously.

 also in this issue you'll see my quilt. and yup, there's my name. :)

 in this issue it's highlights cool info about the modern quilt guild, and quilt con.

 and this issue this is my favorite cool quilt in ombre. by heather jones
i got to look at the magazine finally today, that i got sometime this last week.
yes.
today i am going to put aside all things sewing (at least for a few hours) and clean, and grocery shop and love my husband and kids. because sometimes its the super simple every day things in life that make you super happy.
have a great weekend.
i'm hoping to stuff as much simple every day things in today because i know i have to get back to the crazy of prep for market after today again.
:) who knew toilet cleaning could be a happy thing?

V and Co: blog tour: Pat Sloan's new book

yeah so i work from my kitchen table these days, so what? and no it doesn't look that clean anymore that picture was taken before i actually started working, now it looks like a tornado hit it!

 taking a quick break from sewing to write up and talk about one of the hardest working ladies in the quilting industry: Pat Sloan. she has a new book out with liesure arts called focus on the center. and i got to check it out and now i get to talk a little about it. (and ahem give a couple away) whoot! so check it, and read more and leave a comment about it here.