Under Construction

We are at a gallop pace it seems. Today is the last Spring Break day for the kids which has been a full two weeks looooong.  I love having them here.  Yes, they drive me half crazy (which really just finishes that job), but that might secretly be the part I love.  We (the royal) have been working on taking down the wall between the kitchen and the family room for about the same amount of time so, yes.  Bad timing by anoyone else's book, but that's how I tend to operate.  Get all the kooky happening at once.  But the change is wonderful.  Wonderful!  The giant window in the family room is getting a french door set into the center of it.  And the more useless smaller door from the family room to the back patio is getting turned into a crafty little octagon window.  I did not bother with the brick rebuilding expense around the new window, but rather letting the old door frame provide a boundary for building some plant shelves.  It's right next to the kitchen french doors, so I am thinking that will be perfect for herbs.  The beginning of last week started with a trip to Florence to see my sweet friend Natalie and (finally) visit her Factory Store & Cafe.  It is everything that you would expect it to be.  Beautiful, delicious, well thought out and inspiring.  I took the little schmumkins with me, and she had all kinds of fun exploring the grounds and being adored, eating sauteed squash, being held and doted on by Natalie and her team.  Natalie and I spent some time going over our plans for teaching together this summer at Craft South.  I treated myself to some cotton jersey by the yard and getting fitted for one of her corset kits, which recently arrived in the mail all cut to my body specs and I cannot wait to get started on something for me!  So excited.  Craft South!!  Thank you so much for your enthusiasm!  We have been extremely busy getting so much in order for that.  We have taken loads of signups, started a waiting list for some classes, getting close to full on others, and still plenty of room for lots of the one-day classes, and kids workshops.  I am so thrilled with all that is coming up this summer, and will be sharing more about what to expect in all of these workshops in case you need the extra nudge.

We are waiting for proofs of the cross stitch patterns, and we are also getting a huge shipment of floss any day now so that we can begin compiling kits!  The kits will include Aida cloth & a needle as well.  I am also offering just the pattern by itself, but figured some folks might want a little package ready to go.  Yay.  Isabela cut a foot (at least) off of her hair.  This girl, still just 12, had begun turning in to such a lady like looking girl a few short weeks before the cut, then the cut seemed to just push her right into this whole new person.  Sigh.  I am reminded of her here.  Oh the time.  It goes by and you are suddenly parenting a whole group of people that were other versions just a second ago, but still the essence of all the amazing you have known them to be from birth.  Humbling, to say the least.  And there are a million more little changes and growths that aren't as easy to put a finger on.  Galloping, I tell you.

I am so, so glad that spring is here.  I am ready for it.  I usually feel like my garden is taunting me and telling me that I am behind before I even begin, but this year I took a few warm days by force and began digging, dividing and replanting loads of perennials, followed by two truck loads of mulch, which makes me about 1/2 done with Spring prep on the flower beds.  This was of course all promptly covered with snow a day later.  But those perennials are resilient work horses.  Most of them given to me by Mom. Everything is under construction here.  Everything.  Always.  House, Spring, stitching, fabrics, baby dresses, children.  Me.

I hope you are well friends.  Happy Spring! xo, Anna

Craft South

Things have a way of sneaking up on you. Mary Anna practically hyperventilates from laughter she loves playing peek-a-boo so much. It is almost impossible not to do the same yourself when you have a good round with her. She was 9 months on Friday. March came like a lion just as they say. Ice. Harsh cold. Roman suffered for several days through a regimen of breathing treatments around the clock due to an asthma-like episode. Scary stuff. Jeff and I took turns sharing a bed with him. I was never more than the sound of his breath away for about a week. He is very good now. And we are prepared if there should be a next time. I of course am hoping there is not- at the very least that I can understand possible triggers like allergies and what not. Phew. I have been stitching. My new cross stitch patterns and kits that I have likely not mentioned here are getting close to being ready! You are going to love these. They are little. Six colors. Beautiful and enjoyable. Eight of them! I am already knitting away on my nephew Eli's birthday sweater. I chose a simple v-neck vest, and I'm adding a contrast trim. It's gonna be cool. Cause he's turning 9 and it has to be.  We are about to knock down the wall between our kitchen and family room.  I have been wanting to do this for years and decided that being otherwise busy with everything else was the perfect time to do it, naturally.

Ok, really.  Craft South.  This is what I am here to talk about mostly, though you know by now you never get a straight story.  Look over here.  We have been working on this for months and I can't believe we are ready to go.  I am over the moon with excitement and feeling so lucky and honored to have such wonderful designers & friends to help me share lots of good crafty experiences this summer.  I can think of no better way to begin this journey than sharing it with these ladies.  And just like the posted story says, I am on the hunt for a permanent home for Craft South to live.  As in a building.  One with floors and walls.  Electricity would be nice too.  And my people.  My working studio will move there, and my personal studio will remain at home.  We aren't exactly sure where "there" is but we are hard at work on it.  My hopes and dreams for Craft South aren't so much about a new business as they are about creating a home for all of the work that I do already.  But in a place where any one can walk in, anytime, for any reason, and share what they are working on, learn something, knit, sew, stitch, talk, buy beautiful materials for all of it and be an important part of a community of crafters.  Here in Nashville.   I love my home.  I love this city. And after years of sharing through that screen there that you are looking at, I am giddy about offering a tangible experience for myself and others.  Say a prayer for me.  It's a big step, but I am somehow just not stressed like I have been with other decisions.  I have theories on that.

For now I just want to say thank you so much for your support in whatever form it has taken over the past many years.  Life changes in the most amazing ways, and some days I feel like I am simply watching it with excitement.  Today is one of those days.

Please let me know if you have any questions about Craft South, the workshops, or anything.  Please read all the info provided in the pdfs at the website.  Classes will not be on sale until Monday of next week, right over here, but the schedules are offered now so you have some thinking time.

more soon friends, xoxoAnna Maria

For (the sake of) Grace

There was a very windy, sweeping storm last night.  We woke up to sunshine, warmth, birds chirping and the tricky business of believing it could be Spring.  Jeff said there was something a little sad about the sunshine today but he couldn't say what exactly.  Something sort of sad about Spring.  While he sat on the side of the bed with his coffee, (hoping the aroma would coax me to upright) me still buried in blankets, I offered that maybe it's sort of like the sadness of waking up.  After sleeping deep in the dark, cold winter.  The beauty of the morning however can only be explained one way for me today.  Today is my Mama's birthday.  She would have been 69.  When I think of her and birthdays, I think of all she did for us and her grandchildren.  I think of cakes.  Presents.  The utter joy she had of finding just the right thing for one or the other of us (and on sale too!).  But for so many years now birthdays have been about knitting for the grandchildren.  She divided the 12 of them (13 now) into two groups of receiving a handknitted  gift from her.  One year she made something for each of my six children, then the next year she made something for the other 6 (my brother's 4, and my sister's 2).  So everyone got a handmade every other year.  A pretty sweet deal.  We would periodically expect an email from mom asking us to measure one child or another so that she could plan the size, yarn, needles, gauge, and other details.  I always, in my limited understanding of knitting from patterns, would overlook those details in our conversations and just wanted to see the color of the yarn and the pattern she had planned.  This was typical for mom and I as a pair.  I got excited about everything that I could see and dream of, she concentrated on the details of getting it right.  She saved the excitement part for seeing her gorgeous grandchildren in the sweaters.  She did not love doing color work.  She loved intricate stitches.  She was a beautiful knitter.  She has made amazingly lovely pieces.  She said a prayer for the recipient with every single stitch.  In the rear view mirror, I think that my slow uptake on knitting over the years has been because I just always wanted her to do that.  I wanted it to be hers.  I wanted, in very recent years, to not be the one knitting in the family.  We needed her for that.  I want to call her right now and tell her to check my blog for the pictures of Grace's sweater.  I think in the winter of of 2012, I began focusing on finally getting this knitting thing figured out because I felt that she would be handing this work to me at some point soon.  And at her hospital bedside last April (knowing that she had two knitting bags back at her hotel), I asked her permission to "help" with her knitting projects for a while.  My sister asked to work on the Christmas pajamas.  She smiled and blessed us each with a nod.  She gave us permission.  And so very much more.  

I will never knit like her.  I can hear her saying in my mind, as she is looking at this, that she would never dream up working the colors this way, but they are so beautiful.   It will be perfect for her, she would say.  My sweet niece, Grace, is 6 years old today.  Yes, she shares a birthday with mom.  It is so very appropriate that the first handknit, or as we call them "Nani Knits" that I created, is given on the day that we celebrate them both.  It followed a pattern from Mom & Me Knits.  But it's not pale solid pink.  It is striped and then some.  In Grace's favorite colors.  It's doesn't have big grosgrain poufy bows on the shoulders, because my niece is not a poufy girl.  It is bright and cool and gutsy like her.  Like both of us.  I made it with as much love & capability as I could muster, and trying to be all that my mama loves in me.  It is not perfect.  Only perfect in that it is a gift.  Still given from Nani.  Like the gift Nani continues to be for us.
Happiest of Birthdays, Sweet Grace.  A good day to be born.  (I hope it fits!)
xoxoAunt Anna

Building Blocks

Howdydoo.

I have so enjoyed your encouragement on my last post.  Seriously.  It is an immense joy for me to be able to have this knitting thing that is entirely creative and fun but where there are no expectations to perform in anyway and so far is not attached to what I do for work.  It will most likely (snort) stay that way, though one never knows of course.  Sometimes really beautiful things can happen when you aren't trying, I suppose.  Anyway, I love when you play along.  Thank you for the fun.

I wanted to let you know a couple other things. 

*I have a post over at Janome today that walks through my feelings and inspirations when using solid fabrics in my quilts.  I hope you find it inspiring and informative.  I'll be posting there every month this year, and will be sure to let you know when I do!  Here's the link directly to the article: Quilting Decibels

*We have solidified the Monthly Gathering Stacks as a subscription option in addition to just offering them for sale.  Here is a link to a downloadable PDF that explains the process if you're interested.  We will be posting the February stack next Wednesday (2/5), so I wanted to let you know how it will work in plenty of time.

*It's weird how much I have been using FB lately.  Are you liking me over there?  If nothing else, it is really the perfect place to share images of what other folks are using my fabrics for.  I am really so inspired by that.  Lucky me.  But for reals, the simplicity of FB makes quickly sharing this or that from all over the place pretty ideal for a certain category of notes and happenings.  You know this already don't you? I am slow.  Oh for instance, did you see this amazing quilt by Kathy Doughty?  Gahh.

*We have had 3 birthdays here over the last week.  Juliana is now 22 (gasp).  Nicolas is now 16 (what?).  Eleni is now 10 (wahhhh).  I am now old (true). 

*We are also freezing.

*Pierrette and I have been working on a summer long series of one-day workshops, kids workshops, weekend workshops, and a pop-up shop (and other things that rhyme with op).  Four months in a row!  It's crazy.  We are nuts.  It's gonna be awesome.  I seriously am losing sleep over the excitement and I can't wait to share the schedule with you.  Right now it looks like beginning of March is when we'll begin taking signups.  I will keep you posted.

Okay.  The baby is squawking.  Bye! xoxoAM

(above is an improv block that I call Mod Corsage.... I am teaching this block/process at SewDown Nashville (which is full) but hope to also teach this little beauty at one of my summer workshops too!)

Big Color

I owe my Juliana a debt of design on this sweater because she almost punched me in the face when I told her I needed to buy some yarn to make something for myself. Exercising some restraint however she walked over to the six drawer chest in the living room, yanked open a drawer, held her hand in display position and said MOM.  You. Have. YARN.  (Only 3 drawers full though.)
And I did.  And still do.  Less than I did have though, thanks to some giant size 17 circular needles, knitting with 3 yarns at once and..... knitting guts.  I shied away from knitting for so many years because I felt as though I could not make it up as I went along.  That and lots of other now seemingly invalid reasons.  I have followed and completed over a dozen patterns over the past year with mostly good success.  I am only now starting to see where I would like to amend something here or there, or maybe do something differently than how the pattern is written if I were to do it again.  In other words, my designer brain is starting to walk hand in hand with my following the instructions and learning something brain.  I am developing a point of view as I barely scratch the surface of learning technique and variations on basic things about knitting. 
But this sweater.  Well this thing.  I had some reckless fun.  This sweater is my version of getting knocked up by knitting.  It is the product of just going for it.  And just like that dumb kid in your freshman studio painting class who thinks he can be an abstract painter simply because nothing recognizable is actually portrayed so how hard can it be, I just knit this thing very awkwardly and loud.  Like I feel like you could have (like) seen me (like) knitting it from (like) wherever you are because my motions of making it were large and happy and dumb.  And I was so excited the whole time and couldn't stop showing it to people mostly the same group of them that live and work here in a steady rotation once I thought maybe they were ready to hear about it again.
And it's huge.  So huge.  I wanted it big, but here was how the cast on went which was piled up with my decision making process on how many stitches to cast on which we will call, for the sake of this description, designing the sweater.  Yes.  That's what it was.  I was designing a sweater.  Aherm.  SO when I was designing the sweater I was like oooo colors, oooo, threeeeee colors at once, what does that look like?, ooooo what do THESE 3 look like together, oooo let me cast these on together, oooh look! (shows Juliana (who is rolling her eyes)), this is gorgeous, oooo when one color runs out I will just tie on another, yes!!, oooo, cast on 12, oooo but I will keep gray and white and black some what constant, cast on another 30, oh I think I made a hat once that was about 50 stitches, oooo but the colors will be like all landscapey- and HOT  there has to be some HOT colors, my torso is definitely bigger than my head so maybe 100 stitches, MAGENTA!  (gasp) Ooooh I have this magenta color scrap, that will have to happen right before black oooo dang every yarn I have is going in this thing oooo crap am I stealing all of my granny square scrap colors now?, oh well, oooo I think 120 stitches will do it.  Now I have a tube. A huge tube.  Like the whole family can get in here tube. But it is too pretty to undo. I started at the bottom.  Oh. Crap.  I meant to start at the top.  Dang.  (Looks up raglan sleeve construction bottomsup style on the interwebuals)  Makes sleeves.  Attaches sleeves, makes up things about attaching sleeves that I am sure I've seen somewhere but didn't bother to confirm because I was 60 seconds away from the baby squawking something about needing breast milk.
Then I had a sweater.  I think it is beautiful.  I am proud of myself.  And I like it so much that I am going to take it apart and do it over only this time with like 90 stitches.  It will be worth it.  I learned stuff and I want to use the that stuff I learned right here on this sweater.  Not the next one.
I am sorry, Knitting.  I know that you did not see me coming.  But you should have thought of that before you sent me the invitation.
True story.
xoAM
Raise your hand if you'd buy my knitting book........cricket.

January Gathering

I am ridiculously happy with myself.  I decided to stay color inspired this year by pulling together a group of 12 fabrics every month to reflect what I'm calling the mood of the month.  Keep in mind it is entirely arbitrary, really, but I do think there is so much to the language of color and a common feeling that we all share when it comes to the calender changing.  I am offering them as bundles for sale, but really am most excited about looking at my own prints in a new way.  Pulling from various collections, new or not.  I am hoping it'll inspire you in a positive way too, whether its just the enjoyment of looking at the image or a new direction in your own color stories.    The only rule I am setting on myself is to not create them ahead of time.  I have to be in the month to be feelin' right?  Right.

So for January, my words of inspiration are: wood piles, snowflakes, crocheted blankets, full moon, icicle, mittens and new perspectives.

Happy Friday! xoxoxAnna

True Dat

Over the past few months anything that I sew or quilt that includes my True Colors fabrics jumps right up to the top of my personal favorites list. Like of all time personal favorites. True Colors has proven to be my little dream come true fabric haul. I can barely plan anything that doesn't include a bit or a lot of it. Which is just exactly what I hoped for when designing it. Anyhoo. Here is the quilt that I have been asked about a whole lot. Color Dive. The Color Dive Quilt was inspired by my True Colors collection and is my newest video class on CreativeBug. I am also working on a PDF version of the pattern that we should have listed in the shop for sale soon, and I'll be sure to letchya know about that.  When it's published, we'll have some kits ready for you too.  We're like that.

Here's the preview for the Color Dive class:



The quilt uses every print in my Dowry collection + every print in my True Colors collection + a handful of solids. In case you'd like a chance to land an extra little pile of fabrics on your sewing table, you should follow along with the True Colors blog tour that is starting Monday at Sew4Home. There will be plenty of chances to win fabric + thread prizes and get loads of sewing inspiration along the way. Here's a scheduled list of the talented folks that are sharing their True Colors projects using my group (highlighted in pink) as well as Heather's, Joel's and Jenean's. Enjoy! xoxoAnnaMaria

1/20 Sew4Home
1/21 Stitchery Dickory Dock
1/22 I'm A Ginger Monkey
1/23 The Sewing Loft
1/24 Ellison Lane
1/27 Diary of a Quilter
1/28 Material Obsession
1/29 Craftsanity
1/30 Stitched in Color
1/31 Craft Buds
2/1 Jay Bird Quilts

And here's a little video of us color people talking about such:

Dowry

Dowry.  (ps. putting the finishing touches on the above pattern today! Quilt pattern is now here!) I first learned what the word dowry meant from my mom when exploring my grandparents house in Greece as a little girl.  I came across a small closed up room filled with linens all stacked from the floor to taller than me and a cabinet of dishes, etc. too as I recall.  I asked my mom what it was and she said it was my cousin Eleni's dowry.  Cousin Eleni was only a wee girl at the time, but busy family hands had been making for her since before she was born.  Needless to say it made quite an impression and I wasted no time in asking where we kept my dowry.  (I am sure that was good for laughs, as we didn't practice quite the same tradition here in the States.)
Dowry is my newest feature collection of 24 quilting cottons.  (And only quilting cottons actually for this line.)  Here is my collection description: So often beauty comes to us in the form of tangible gifts, passed on by loved ones who have come before us. Even more lovely is when these goods were actually intended for and handmade with us in mind. This to me is the very heart of the handmade world, and I wanted to honor it with a collection that is very personal and built from the handiwork from my own family. Dowry is a compilation of literal translations of some of my own family heirlooms, some imagery is only from memory, and some prints are simply imagined companions that reference the handmade, hand stitched, and the well-loved. Dowry is at once nostalgic and energetic… a new love with a past life.
Each of the colorways is named for a piece of jewelry I've been given.

Rubies & Pearls (a ring from my great, great aunt)

Charm Bracelet (from my parents for my high school graduation)

Brass Locket (from my grandmother Anna Ruth, holding pictures of my grandfather, mom, and aunt)


Being very literal about the translations of artwork from heirloom to fabric was incredibly satisfying. The process inspired me beyond the actual recreated artworks, but also completely reinvigorated my "mark" making. How I stroked the surface for each print. They are all a little different, and in the end sort of reference and pay tribute to several styles of print processes over centuries of making textiles. For instance, the Twill Bouquet was born out of my first needlepoint project as a child, but the texture inspired a twill motif rather than a needlepoint one. Those twill lines running through the bouquet saw fit to take a few turns in the negative space for some contemporary interest (not unlike my juvenile stitches that went in all directions).  (Mom and I made that pillow together several years ago with my Bohemian fabrics after recovering the needlepoint from missing.)

And the Lineage print. This dear deer of Yiayia's. Dear deer of mine (the story is here). It was important to me to invoke the print with the horizontal runnings of a loom, so all the art is created in line and purposefully a little imperfect in it's printing, slightly thinner here, overprinted there. It feels so special to me that way. Already belonging wherever it is. I love it. I cannot tire of it.

Every print and title in this collection is special to me. Close to me and very personal. I could not have anticipated just how personal when I designed it, barely and secretly pregnant exactly a year ago, and still the daughter of a visible mother. I could not have. Yes, it's only fabric. Only things. But so are all of pieces and gifts that inspired the work. When Pierrette and I were shooting the above photo, the mannequin needed just a little something. I was able to pull out one of my mom's crocheted shawls still tucked in a box full of things I had just retrieved from her closet a few days earlier. Perfect. Only a shawl.
But so very good to hold it, and see it. Like everything we give and receive out of love.
While we do sell it, and it is my living, I also offer this with love.  I hope you enjoy it!
yours, Anna Maria

True Colors

Hulllloo. Happy November. November is great. Particularly this one. It's wonderful enough watching the weather change, the colors intensify through your window, the house feeling like a cozier place to be, and going outdoors feeling more like an adventure than a chore....but this November, two lovely happenings in the form of fabric are happening. The first is TRUE COLORS. People. This was so fun for me. Setting these parameters on my designing was a rewarding challenge and I love the results. I hope you do too!

Here's the schpeil from the website regarding the collection (all true, wrote it myself, so I know): I am thrilled to introduce you to my first collection of not-so-basic basics! True Colors is the latest collection program from Free Spirit designed by a select group that I am so proud to be part of. These prints and colorways are specifically designed to work beautifully along side all of my fabric collections. My twenty True Colors fabrics fill in any color gaps one might have in their stash to complete a full palette of inspiration. A gorgeous spectrum that is always good to have around no matter the style or the project!

And if you haven't noticed yet that you are floating amongst the most heavenly, chubby, sweet little cherub along with a divine assortment of colorful mini pants, I would like to point out the fabulous little knickers that are my latest free pattern for you. Cause I wanted knickers and so did the baby. She said so.

Visit my MAKE page to download the knick-knack Knickers sewing pattern by me. Knick-knack Paddywhack was my mom's favorite song to rock little ones too. So I sing it, and sew these (just twenty of 'em) in her honor of her silly, fun "Nani" self.

True Colors is loaded into our shop, as well as favorite shops all over the globe, so have fun!  I'll get a Flickr group for it going soon and I can't wait to see all the sewing going down!

I'll be back tomorrow to scoop on Dowry after I can figure out a way to talk about it without crying sentimental tears. ;-P (fabric is happy, fabiric is happy, fabric is happy.)
xo, hugs, AM

A Gathering

I took so much sparkley, fun, giddy pleasure in putting this gathering of framed works together on Mary Anna's nursery wall. I have been looking at the blank wall, as in, a wall with absolutely nothing on it, not a thing, don't even think about it, nothing, since about June 9th. That was when I started parking my fanny in the rocker and nursing a two day old... facing that wall. A million and ten times a day. I have had a lot of time to think about that wall and what should go on it. In fact I perhaps have done that very thing more than I have done anything since June 9th with exception to possibly nursing. Let's call it a tie. Because Miss Mary Anna Louisa (Bouisa)'s room was built into the studio I have dubbed her room to be quite art-y and have filled it with lots of handwork, and the like. I will take more pictures of the whole room soon. But The Wall. Sure, I have embroideries. Sure, I have quilts. Yeh, got needlepoints. I wanted to have something framed too. My sister and I went through a huge pile of vintage handkerchiefs that belonged to my Great Grandmother earlier in the Spring. Holy Smokes, they are beautiful.  Most are about 100 years old. Perfect in frames. In smaller frames, some are folded down to show just a small corner.  A few are shown fully. Above is my favorite. Oh it's beautiful! But finally I created the first edition of my own prints. Which mix in so very well. I just adore the wall now, so very much.



So that is a long winded way to let you know that my first limited edition print collection is now for sale in the online shop! This is a *pre-sale and we'll begin shipping them out in about 3 weeks. So sit tight. And dream beautiful wall dreams while you wait.
xoxo, Anna

Escape Artist

(It's true that I really do have the most fun naming everything that I design. Naming is my favorite.  Ahem.)  The original inspiration for this new bag design was to incorporate the possibility of including a needlepoint work into the bag. For me, that dictated the whole look of the bag to be a bit old-timey carpet bag like. And luxurious. But a shape that is simple and modern enough that it would translate well into many other fabrications. Working with velveteen was a must for me on the first few samples.  I simply love that fabric for bags.   Really good weight and something about the texture is just so fancy and perfect on bags.


The clutch (on my way to a wedding last summer with the prototype) was a must when I decided on a variation, but a nice large scale that did not skimp on space. Kind of portfolio like but way more feminine with the shirring. The needlepoints that I used for the two bags above are the perfect size for this bag to begin with, though you could really use any special handwork or patchwork piece in the framed feature spot.  Or something that is only as special as your current favorite print (because we know that changes weekly).

For the cover bag, I decided to do just that, by framing the "Parenthetical Flight" print in my leopard velveteen.  (It makes me think of a cat coughing up feathers of a bird he just ate only more sophisticated.)

Even simpler still is this version that I have used everyday for about a month.  Mary Anna and I share this bag (because I have never taken to the one bag for me, one bag for baby thing very well). I skipped over the framed and shirred front feature all together and just made a simple version that uses the bag back piece twice and same linen fabric all over. The handles are just long enough to slide up to my shoulder if I choose, but comfy at my elbow as I hold other things too, like, uh, a baby. So there she is, my newest bag pattern. Hope you like it! I know that a bunch of you have been waiting for Field Study linens to be back in stock, and I'm here to tell you they are!

In other news, we just painted the downstairs studio, cause there's a new wall in there (the one that created a nursery for MA) that was waiting for paint. It all feels so fresh now with a new coat of "glass of milk" by Martha Stewart (same as upstairs studio). Before I move everything back in I am taking advantage of the empty floor space to layer up two new quilt tops with their battings and backings. I'll be shooting with Creativebug again next week so the fresh and clean is good timing.

Also I just polished off a 1/2 pint of everything but the....

Post-baby eating plan going as expected ;-P
hugs, Anna

About that Quilt

When I designed this quilt I had tradition on my mind.  I also was set on making a quilt pattern that felt a little like a snowflake-y/fair isle-y/navaho-y piece.  You know.  But wanted it to feel modern at the same time.  After a whole bunch of tinkering, sewing, patching, drawing, mathing and swearing, I arrived a block design that I loved, and one that was not insane to expect of someone else.  The Flight Map Quilt.  And like much of designing patchwork proves to be, it was quite a bit of complication to arrive at simplicity.  Layering on to all of that, the pattern only uses one single block, but employs strategic color changes to arrive at the medallion style you see above.  8 solids + 12 watercolor like prints.  I would not label this as a beginner quilt, though I would say that it is largely composed of beginner to intermediate piecing skills.  And I REALLY believe it to appear way more complicated than it seems.  Really, really.  I also wanna show you some variations with different color layouts for some inspiration......




I made the above crib sized quilt from some of the the Hand Drawn Garden collection.  Each of the 6 blocks is exactly the same and the arrangement of them creates the fun little arrows of magenta and coral.  The arrangement also only allows the cream solid to complete a whole diamond in one place which is not exactly center which I think is pretty unique.  The Volumes print cut in a stripey manner gives the print-y prints a nice kick. 




Naturally it seemed the next thing to try was to not only make a version where every block is the same, but also one where the blocks are entirely symmetrical.  Oh how I love this version.  Really so very traditional in one way but a close inspection of the single block feels so quirky and fresh when you see the fabrics up close.  The floating cross elements and the more subdued flying geese rows feels so calming and lovely.  I just adore it.  This one is made from eight different Dowry prints (releasing in November!) and just one solid.  And no, I did not make all three myself!  The original was made together with my pal and stellar quilter, Brittney, the crib size all by me, and the latest above entirely by Brittney.  I cannot let you people think that a lady with a 3month old is doing this much patchwork.  It just wouldn't be right.  But anyway.  I wish I were.

Have a good weekend.  S'pose to be 78 at the very hottest tomorrow and I have already decided that will make it the best day of my life.
xoxoAM