Scenes from Sewing

What are you sewing?

And if you're not, please explain yourself.

xo, AM

April Tuesday ~ home visit

~sewing~ something pour moi. I was entirely too jealous of this shirt that we got for Jeff while in NYC, and it reminded me of these fabrics that I bought in Portland last spring. And yes, I would say that one year is about the amount of time that it usually takes me to get around to making a blouse I have in mind. But I would not say that last year I expected it to be a maternity blouse.



~leaning~ against my studio wall is this old painted ladder that I've had my eye for a while to hang on to the growing collection of studio quilts. I guess that folk dance needs to come off that felt wall if I'm going to hand-quilt it.



~lining~ the drawers of an old chest that we inherited from Jeff's Nani who passed a few months ago. A good cleaning with Murphy's oil and some pretty new lining paper (ala Target) will land this beauty into the girls' room for sharing. I had originally intended to keep it in the dining room to house all the handmade table linens that I planned to, well, hand make, but have yet to. I also had the thought to buy enough lining paper to match the repeat on it where it needed to be seamed. Neither of these thoughts is realistic or unusual for a person such as myself. Sigh.



~sitting~ in my living room is this new acquisition from my favorite local furniture store, which, sadly for me is closing its doors. I'm happy for Carissa though, as she has had her fourth baby and now completely following that path. If you're local, take advantage of the sale! I can't wait to nestle into that corner with a new nursing baby. That is, if Isabela's nose and whichever book she has it in will make room. (Pillows & rug ala anthropologie)



~budding~ everywhere I look. Outside my window this sycamore (I think) has the most gorgeous shade of spring buds every year, and I keep telling myself this will be the stuff of some fabric print somewhere. One of these days.



~waiting~ for his (human) brothers and sisters to come home. Most of the time he sits with me in the studio, but I'm starting to notice he is more particular to the dark foyer on rainy days. We have a huge storm predicted and possible tornado watches for this afternoon. Maybe he's anxious for them to get here. Me too, boy.

thanks for coming , xo, Anna

Signed, sealed, delivered, they're yours!

I can't say enough to thank you for all your kind thoughts and comments in response to my last post which I did not begin with the intent of pouring out quite so much. It just came as I wrote, and I left it there. Someone said something about how good that overly emotional time of pregnancy can be for you, like catharsis, and I agree, wholeheartedly. I'm not too much of a dweller, but often feel that there are times and thoughts that deserve to be noted by saying or writing outloud, good or bad, it helps me move on....uh so moving on.

The patterns! Land sakes, we've been shipping and shipping and shipping to lots of shops around the globe, and happy to say (if you're not already in the know) that the goods are in our shop now too. I really, really hope everyone enjoys these patterns, they were a lot of work to put together, but can say I'm pleased as punch. I've already begun a flickr group for them, so join in the fun should you choose, and please share how its sewing! You can report any booboos to me there too, and I'll send out band-aids asap. We've had such a great response that its already time to send in the 2nd print run, so we can fix any typos on the next round.

And to answer a few inquiries regarding the chair/pillow/blanket/yarn from my last post:

Armchair: a $5 dollar find a garage sale that we promptly snatched up and had covered with this fabric, with piping and back buttons in this fabric, which is the same as the curtain panels. We have 2 of these chairs actually (an entire 10$ worth), and love them.

Crochet Pillow: I highly recommend this book, as it is like an encycolpedia of endless crochet techniques, and shapes and forms. The pillow was a self guided thingermaggigin that combines several things that I learned form that book.

Ripple Blanket: clearly not a new thing, as there have been so many gorgeous ones shared over the past few years on several blogs and groups. Again, I taught myself to do this stitch from that fab-y book, although I amended a stitch that looked more zigzag-like to have softer turns. Essentially this amounted to combining and decreasing dc instead of skipping them....

Yarn: Most everything you need to know about these glorious cottons, you can get from this post.

Okay kids, coffee, laundry, cleaning, yardwork, recycling and ignoring all those things (save coffee) is calling me ~ enjoy your weekend! xoxo, Anna

Maybe my favorite word: Beginning

Juliana, Jeff and I were able to sneak just the 3 (erh, I guess I count as 2, so 4) of us to Manhattan for several days while the rest had farm days at Grandma's house over spring break. Consider this my excuse note for the blog principal. Main intention being getting an early look at Parsons for Juliana, but, of course mixed in with plenty of eating, shopping, training, cabbing, with the bonus of spending every night with my brother George and his family on Long Island. And the double-dog bonus of getting to eat my brother's homecooked meals at each day's end. But it was a beginning of sorts. The beginning of taking a proactive approach to finding a college home for the big bub. This is new. We can talk all we want, but move, and fly, and gather information books, and talk with counselors, and tour? Really? Are we sure? Okay.



The trip was filled with such a range of emotions, most of them excitement and promise and interest. But please. I really don't mean to dote on the teenage-mom-now-has-teenage-daughter and has-found-herself-pregnant-and-filled-with-misty-eyed-ironic-thoughts theme but, spare me another will you? Standing in the welcome center at the school I found a few people sort of staring at me, or the 3 of us, like maybe they were trying to figure it out. I asked Jeff why he thought people were kind of looking, and he casually blamed it on my belly. Which, naturally, transported me back to the welcome center at Ringling where I was the subject of several stares aimed at my mid section, only I was the enrolling student pregnant with the young woman I now had next to me who was soaking in the whole scene in the middle of Greenwich Village. And it made me giggle and, of course, share the thought with my cohorts.



Later in the day, when we had moved on to the part where my back was aching, my feet were swelling, and I wobbled towards anything that smelled good, (I think they call this shopping but I seem to have forgotten how that's done lately, unless you could say I was furniture shopping as I seemed to be looking for chairs everywhere we went) Jeff and I found ourselves in a coffee shop. No Juliana. We had all sort of reprogrammed ourselves after a few hours to allow her some lingering interludes in this or that store on her own, armed with the map in her blackberry and only a few calls to us with phrases like, "I walked all the way up to 7th and didn't see UO!" and with replies from me, like "that's because you walked right past it before you even reached 6th - open your eyes, bub - we'll meet you there in about 30 minutes" And in that span, sitting there, just us, I realized what we were really at the beginning of. Seeing her off. And I confessed into my sweet husband's eyes that whether she travels 10 miles down the road or 950 miles up the country, I will bite into a bitterness in those days. You can hardly say my nest will be empty, still fuller than most, but new, and the beginning of something else. Maybe the beginning of her. Just like she was the beginning of me.



The ripple went with me all the way there and back and has ended up to be a larger blanket than I had originally planned. But rather than just a blanket for baby, I thought it should be a blanket for us. To warm the two of us during sleepless nights when the house is just ours. I don't know why its taken me so long to learn, but each new life in this house is also the beginning of a new family, a new mother, a new father. And each new phase of our children's lives seems a chance to either cry over the one that was traded out or cheer on the first steps on a new path. You can call it optimism, but I am thinking of it these days as simply emotional survival.

And thank you so much for letting me say so. xo,AM

You may have this dance!

Here she is! The Folk Dance quilt pattern is ready for downloading, printing, cutting, sewing, backing, quilting and binding! Got a few spare weeks? Me either.

But I'm excited to share this pattern with you nonetheless. The pdf is linked over there in the sidebar at the top of the other quilt patterns and also on the products/sewing page of my website. You must be told too, that making these sorts of updates to my website without calling Jeff, makes me so happy. Not nearly as happy as it makes him, but happy.

I have seen zigzag quilts cut and assembled a few different ways, a few googles and likely you would too. Often they are squares made up of two right triangles, and the zigzag lines just appear based on which way you turn and alternate the square as you go. My pattern is based on an antique quilt that I came across (which of course I can't find now) that was just vertical columns of larger right triangles alternating their color and direction. Then all the columns are sewn in straight vertical seams. Either method gets you the same visual result, I just liked the idea of less cutting, and also less piecing, and thought you might too. With this method you also don't have to break up the visual imagery of the fabric quite as much if you are wanting each "stripe" to be of the same fabric.

And maybe none of this makes any sense, but will make perfect sense once you've looked at the pattern. Hoping so anyway. The pattern details how to assemble the top and leaves it up to you for your favorite way of backing, binding, etc. There are several spots online to find out this info, and also my book details my methods for backing and binding in the tutorials section.

Mine will get some handquilting along every zig and zag, at a pace yet to be determined. I'll share that with you as I go. Overall I am just very excited about the look of these zigzags, with this collection of fabrics in particular. There is something kind of silly but serious about it all at once. And the movement is something akin to the charm of a ripple crochet pattern maybe. Oh I've started one of those with the new yarns. Yea, like I mentioned, pace yet to be determined.

Oh, and YES we will put up some quilt kits in the shop next week for both palettes of Good Folks for you. Have fun! xoxo,AM

Dancing the Zig

Rounding out her new skills, Isabela helped me with some layer pinning on the "Folk Dance" quilt. Eleni helped too, but quickly became more interested in the case of T-pins.

On my hands and knees, I was reminded of being 19 and preg with Juliana (who affectionately refers to me as "Preg" these days so I have a hard time ever finishing the word anymore). I was attending the Ringling School of Art & Design and had taken on a painting to earn some extra money. I was commissioned by my former HS drama teacher (who swore on my acting potential) back home and it was for a 3x5' watercolor of orchids. Thats big. Anyway, if you've ever stretched watercolor paper, you know that its ideal to staple it to a wooden board after its been soaked, er that's one method anyway. After securing a roll of heavy duty watercolor paper in the appropriate size, I embarked on figuring out what to staple the paper to and where I would find the space for this in my tiny little dorm room. Now mind you, as a pregnant art student, in addition to constantly being asked to model for figure drawings, I also had bestowed upon me a certain amount of mmmm sympathy(?) er- respect(?) er something- was never really quite sure. Maybe just attention. Mostly good. Nonetheless, I summoned my floor's room advisor for help and she let me in on a little secret. An unoccupied dorm room on my hall where I could work on the painting. At Ringling, our dorms, old as they were, formally acted as a swank hotel from the 20's era complete with stucco outer walls and hardwood floors and other charms inside. I had found my wood to staple my painting to.

Simple and ideal as that sounds, spending every night for a month on your 7 mos pregnant hands and knees on a hard wood floor working on a painting, was not so ideal. I don't care how young you are. But the important thing to me now, and then, was that I had a purpose. I wanted to make enough money to buy Jeff an acoustic guitar (have I bragged of his talent?) for Christmas which was coming only weeks away. So there was no question as to whether I was going to do it, the question was just how. And I found a way. Bruised knees, aching back, tired and all.

I went home for Christmas break, barely able to contain my excitement after spending weeks away from him (900 miles away, before we were married). He was meekly in awe of his guitar and he gave me a lovely dress. It was this really cool multi-paneled dress in all different prints that he somehow knew I would like, and I did, so much. Only I was 8 months pregnant and a maternity dress it was not. As soon as he left, I tried it on anyway, and cried. I cried at not being able to button all the buttons, and tried to stand certain ways in front of the mirror to imagine what the dress might look like once the belly was gone, and convince myself and the dress that it would work and would be just beautiful and just like a 19 year old.

After getting up from a much softer floor this morning(quilts are nicer to crawl on than watercolor paper and staples) I shared this story with Juliana who was hanging around in the studio before going to work. She couldn't believe that I had cried when I tried on the dress and I couldn't believe that my crying surprised her. Of course I cried. We then scoured the closets looking for the dress, 'cause she wanted to wear it today. Haven't come across it yet, but I know its around here somewhere. She did manage to find another that I had bought right after I had her, and wore that one instead. She looks beautiful in it.

And of course I cried!!!

"Folk Dance" quilt pattern coming tomorrow!
xo,Anna Maria

The past few & the next few

I've had some really lovely days here, despite how the week started. (Thanks for all your well-wishes, the foot and I are currently without further incident.) So many early mornings here start just like above. I try to get on the computer and plot out my day before most of the little people are awake. This one eventually stumbles in and transitions from asleep to awake just like that. One of the new studio features is the extremely cozy armchair+blanket+pillows situated in front of the drawing table. I think here is where I would typically say new pictures of the studio coming soon, but I'll skip saying that and then maybe they'll just happen on their own. But, seriously, soon.



I got the best phone call ever on Monday while I was in said waiting room. A call from my mom to see if I wanted some company for a few days. I think I said DUH. And then life just got great. (and it was going along fine before.) Someone to crochet and knit with, lunch with, shop with, pontificate on the size/shape of my belly without boredom with, and so on. There are so many someones here that are willing to do some of those things some of the time. But not someone who will do nothing but that with me all the time. Joy. And perhaps the best part of it all is how much I slow down and put work aside a bit when she visits. Thanks Mom.



Bela also got her first knitting lesson.



And has had several proud moments since. I love those teeth.



As for the next few days, the mom-withdrawal period, I have some sit-still plans of my own. My favorite local fabric shop is also now my favorite local yarn shop. Mom and I promptly went for a visit upon hearing this wonderful news and came up with an excuse to purchase a few piles of cotton. Aren't they so pretty?

As for my not so sit still plans, all the kids are home for Spring Break, I have a book signing tomorrow here (from 10-12 ~ come see me if you're around!), having tons more kids over for dinner and playtime on Sunday night, and more laundry and cleaning than I care to talk about.

N'case ya wanted to know. Enjoy your weekend! xoxo, Anna Maria

Barefoot & Pregnant & Consequences ~ as journaled by Isabela

Through one squinted, teary eye, I noticed her in the exam room chair scribbling in her journal, seemingly unbothered by my restrained mini-screams as the thing was being removed. You know, I'm pretty certain she giggled a little when I let out a wince as the local anesthetic (aka flaming needle of fire) went into the bottom of my foot. Call it pain pride, but I was sure to let the doctor know that I have indeed endured numerous natural child births. In fact, I think with less noise.

Anyone remember this (from waaaaay back)? And how funny that she journaled it this time, whereas last time I made a play-by-play illustrated story for you.

And what did I do as soon as we got home? Took off my shoes.

Do I learn? No. I don't.

I'm fine, thanks for asking. Dumb. But fine.

xo,Anna

Our color game

When bolts get thin enough to fold up and tuck in, I call in the experts.



Purple. Cinch.



Magenta/ Orange. Piece a cake.



Let's see. Brown/gold/magenta/pink.....makes, mmmm burgundy. Every 5 year old knows this.



Hmm. Stumped.



Oh, well done.



Next stack.

~New cabinet found here, comes in just about every width and height and with or without tempered glass doors (which are heavy so watch out when its empty and they're open!) We chose with, for upcoming curious (unfolding) baby hands. Assembly required and I found that here. Knobs found here. Prairie Blouse found here, which coincidentally young Adelaide seems to be enjoying today too.~

More soon, miss you guys! xo, Anna

Wink Juice & Nudge-Nudge Pizza

(Entirely too coordinated today, Eleni requested a portrait by the cutting table upon completing her dressing.)

Thank you, thank you a million times thank you! You guys are so smart and veggie-lovin, I knew all I had to do was ask. And I should have mentioned that I have skimmed through my friend's copy of Deceptively Delicious, which I think is a great concept, not a new concept (who among us doesn't sneak in a smidge of strained spinach with every spoonful of strained sweet potoates that baby will tolerate?), but really a great concept for a cute book. The reason I haven't purchased it, is because so many of the recipes are for dishes I couldn't get Joseph to eat whether or not they're made with a sneak of veggies. In addition to being adverse to vegetables, he is just sooooo picky. No grapes, oranges, berries of any sort, watermelon, sauces (unless on pizza), meatloaf, raviolis, soups (except broth from chick-noodle) etc. etc. Clearly his don't list is too long to continue, but the other thing I find is that the easier it is to hide a vegetable the less nutritional value it seems to have. Its the greens we seem to have the most trouble finding a way to fit in. But after 17+ years parenting, I've learned to not turn mealtime into a warzone. I refuse to. Not to mention, it has never helped one of my kids like something new. I think its perfectly fine for him to have dislikes, I just want help his tastebuds mature a bit.



(So as not to completely disappoint her fans, she has chosen to just barely mismatch those socks. Artistic genius, I say. But, well, could be bias.)

But your enthusiasm, and great ideas, have given me new inspiration and hope! Jeff and I have been meaning to get a garden started, which we hope to embark on this summer (would love some chickens too, but no one has trouble stomaching eggs, so that can wait.) We've also read article after article about how much it helps to not only grow food with your kids, but to also include them in the preparation of meals. I can mostly definitely vouch for that one. Though this could get dicey when covert carrot operations are underway at the stove while their backs are turned. But we'll figure that out.

I have tried the V-8 fusion and already had that in the fridge, and I'm not kidding, when I tell you that last night as Joseph was enjoying a glass of it, he overheard Nicolas read aloud from the bottle that "every glass has a full serving of vegetables and fruits! - Wow, thats great!"

To which Joseph replied, "What? Oh. I don't really like this." And has refused to drink it this morning. Anticipating this, I bought JuicyJuice at the market last night, and when everyone cleared the kitchen, I mixed in about 25% purple carrot juice and hid the evidence. Wink Juice. He rather enjoyed it this morning with his breakfast.

And tonight for dinner, I will peel a zucchini (God as my witness) and shred it into the mozzarella that will top his favorite homemade pizza. Nudge-Nudge Pizza. I have a notion to also sneak some flecs of spinach in the sauce.....but I better do this gracefully and gradually.

Other items on the to-try list will be some pumpkin pancakes, zucchini bread, and carrots in the mac & cheese. I know there's more, but that's on the mind at present.

I'll report back. Thanks to all my field correspondents!
xoxo, Anna

More fun than necessary

I had waaaaaay too much fun taking these photos yesterday. I musta changed around that journal "quilt" configuration and taken a picture of it about 64 times. Proof being a dead camera battery, of course (charging now). I worked on these new goods last summer with a huge amount of giddiness due to being such a sucka for blank sheets of pratically anything....journals, stationery, sketchpads, notecards, recipe cards, etc. I think the obsession might be akin to the sticker love and pencil love I know so many of you can relate to. I'll hopefully be getting all the goodies loaded into the shop today and sending out an emailing to the list once they're there.

Now then, onto more important things. Eating your vegetables. I found what I thought would finally be that one thing that our son Joseph would be tricked into eating. Amazingly yummy and and slightly salty and very crispy veggie chips. And not the tri-colored dehydrated potato chips that you can get, but these are indie-made from my local Fresh Market (aka my personal bank account drainer). I was prepared for the fact that they actually look like vegetables (they are, duh) and this might scare him from trying them. He tried it anyway. And he did not like it. At all. Not even if I offered a whopping dollop of sour cream (which is amazing btw). So. Any suggestions for a 9year old who hasn't eaten and swallowed and kept down anything green (save gummy worms) in about 7 years?

This is of course being asked by someone who also stood in front of the ice cream doors for about 10 minutes deciding on the perfect two pint combo of Ben & Jerry's last night. But I can plead pregnancy. I don't know what Jeff's excuse is. In exchange for your sneaking-in-vegetables advice, I will offer that the Pistachio and the Cherry Garcia are a match made in dairy heaven. Spumoni-like.

N'kay kids, ciao! xoxo, Anna

Model Employee

And chapter 4 in the sewing pattern chronicles. We have our dear Allie, whose job description here in the studio did not mandate being adorably photogenic, however she is overqualified. I do think I hired her because she has red hair though. One day last fall, I walked up behind her at the cutting counter and held a few different fabric samples up against her locks in the sunshine, just having a look. Unbothered, she kept cutting and folding with only a slight glance over the shoulder and an eyebrow raise at my scheming. I just smiled and walked away.



Long before I was envisioning the cover shoot, I envisioned the Ruthie Clutch. In thinking about clutches, I thought about the sensibility in a bag with no straps and handles and the person who doesn't mind what some others might consider inconvenient. But I kept seeing the clutch shape as a very sensible thing somehow, due to the size that most clutches are. They are not overwhelmingly huge like so many bags that we carry around these days, because, well, do we fit too much in our bags and in most of our days? And that's were ideas of luxury came in. How fun must the outing be if we only need this little number for our possessions? Pretty fun.



And combining ideas of being both fun and sensible, I immediately thought of my grandmother. Anna Ruth. Who was often called Annie by my grandfather. But just a few times, and usually in fun-poking flirtation, he called her Ruthie. It would usually be followed with a little suppressed grin from her. And I loved it, little as I was. It wasn't often, but it was fun. Like carrying a clutch. But my grandmother would only bend in favor of fashion over practicality every now and then, but always managed beauty. She was very beautiful.



So there she is. The Ruthie Clutch.

Been so busy here, finalizing all the printing for the patterns, and updating my website at every little turn. Also managed to add a Good Folks flickr group for my folkish friends. Today I have a new shelf to put together for some studio storage, and finalizing specs and colors for a new kitchen linen collection for fall. Oh! Also, finishing up some photography for a new collection of paper goods that I designed! And, I've got oilcloth in the shop now too! See. Busy. Toldya.

good day, xoxo, Anna

Love

Tell me how I could have let this skip out the door without journaling the fabulousness of the combination here? Indie dressing at its best. This is what childhood was meant for. She is happily in charge of her clothes. Every day. As a matter of consequence and preference you will not find a spit-shined child in this house. They just look happier like this. We do brush her hair, honest, it just looks like that again really fast. I can find 1000 things I love about this photo- the messy perfection, the proud grin, the twinkle in her eyes (not to mention of course she stands on new studio floors which I love, and in front of new built in studio shelving which I love-more on that next week), but of course mostly, I love her.



Theme-appropriate for her party at pre-school today are the Valentine tights, naturally. A perfect pairing with the painted-on boots. And a wrinkled Bo-Peep skirt? Yes. (where is that iron?)



Sigh.

What was I saying?

Oh yes, love. I love the beard. Adore, is perhaps a better description, so as not to overuse the word and render it meaningless. Because I really love the man suffering through having a beard for me. He must kinda like it, or I can guarantee it would've been gone weeks ago.

Find a million things to love, and have a Happy Valentines Day! xoxo, AM

Studious Sewing

Reveal 3. The Study Hall Skirt. When I was a kid, and sewing, my mom (the consumate 4-h seamstress) encouraged me to sew from patterns. Keep in mind I was likely not even ten yet, but I tried and became frustrated by the language and terms that where used that I had never heard before. The illustrations helped me more than the text, but sometimes they were more confusing. I can remember when I finally just stopped looking at the instructions, and instead looked at the pieces I had cut out. Cutting out was my favorite part because I knew I could do that. I loved the way it felt to push a straight pin through the delicate tissue then through the thickness of a few layers of fabric. It just felt right. Which was encouraging. But anyway. I looked at those funny shapes and started thinking about them in a new way. In a way that was maybe more like a young architect than a young sewer, and I eventually figured stuff out, and continued to sew pattern-free until I made my own patterns. My mom compared me to my aunts in Greece who would just take scissors to cloth and cut a dress pattern, knowing their daughters' sizes well enough to go free-form from the beginning. It was my most favorite comparison. It was the most inspiring comparison, no doubt.



As I draft and write and illustrate this collection of patterns, I've thought so often of those young days standing at the long bar where we cut and pinned everything in our 70's style den. I try to keep my own memories of sewing being new in mind as I go, and sort of teach young me how to do it all again. The satisfaction of making it right. But not the pressure of making it right. I think that's the balance for lots of us who (wish to) pick up a needle nearly every day (if only, right?).

But onto this pattern. Something else I learned VERY early in just getting dressed as a child was a disdain for waistbands. Any kind of waistbands. Elastic all the way around. Elastic just in the back. Didn't matter. I just wanted everything to sit at my upper hips, band free. Still do. Which is one of the reasons I made this skirt. My own, and I think several figure types are way more flattered by something that fits your hips well and leaves your waist alone. Isn't this why we always reach for our jeans? And this particular pattern also leaves your lower hip alone with flirty pleats front and back.



Do you remember this little skirt from way back when? I have worn that skirt everywhere, and because of that, I knew that a form of it had to be a pattern. It always feels right to wear it. Like pushing pins through pattern tissue and fabric. Right. And I love the idea of doing fancy work on the front panel like the original, should you feel the need. Don't you?

love, xo,AM

Squeezing a few things in ~or~ Squeezing into few things ~or~ Goody does Maternity

I love that I get personal emails requesting a shot of my belly. You might imagine that my belly looking like this is hardly a new thing around here. In fact I was talking to my sister the other day and complaining that I wouldn't see her before the baby is born most likely and how she won't see me pregnant. Which was promptly answered with "uhh, I've sorta seen that Anna." She said it in the most loving way. Brewing #6 hasn't bored everyone around here though, as Eleni and Isabella give this belly its very own hugs goodnight before bed. Oh my gosh, what was I posting about? Oh yea-there's been lots of questions that I want to answer for you about oilcloth, patterns and such so I'll try to squeeze 'em in here. That's were the squeeze thing came, from, now I remember. N'kay:

oilcloth: Is being rolled onto bolts as we speak which is fabric talk for the last thing that happens before it ships to stores. You'll have to check with your shops to ask if they're carrying it, as I'm not sure that every store who has my quilting cottons will also have these. Though I know they've been popular picks. We'll also have them listed in the shop in precut 2yd quantities as soon as they get here. They're 55" wide and I think will be retailing for 19$ or so a yard. AND GUESS WHAT? YOU DID IT! You banged your pots and pans & helped me get 3 MORE prints of Good Folks sent off to the mills for more oilcloth varieties! Yay you! It will take a little time to print and coat the wider goods, but you have this, this and this one to look forward too.

patterns: My first collection of four patterns is at the printers as we speak, erhh, as I type. You've seen 2 of them here and here, and there are two more that I will share this week and next. And by the end of the month, all the patterns should be shipping to stores. I will also have them in the shop, but perhaps first as kits with fabric. Our first priority is to get the patterns to all the shops, so if you're a retailer you can contact me about that, of course. We'll be updating the website within a week or so with a new wholesale page that will have all the ordering info. And whether you're a retailer, a customer, or my 3rd cousin twice removed, if you really want up to the minute news on all that, you can sign up on my mailing list where I make it a point to bug you about once a month. I try not to bug about business in this space too much, bc I prefer to bug only those who specifically ask to be bugged. Naturally I like to share what I'm working on every now and then if I'm all jazzed up about it, cause that's what I do, but, well you know. Could I elaborate on this more?

that dress in the Good Folks photos: Never have I rec'd such questions and gasps and in response~ thanks and so happy it makes you happy too! A version of this dress is in development for a sewing pattern to be released in early summer. And the zigzag quilt hanging on the wall behind her will be the free downloadable pattern for Good Folks. This'll be ready in another week or so, and the technique used in piecing the quilt is exactly what was used in piecing the dress for the most part. So making the quilt will get you all ready to make the dress.

Is that everything?



My OB completey teased me and called me a teenager when she noticed my chic maternity jeans as we listened to the little peapod's heartbeat last week. She said all her teenage patients do this and I most definitely did this as a pregnant teenager. I guess some things you never outgrow. Oh well, clearly you do outgrow some things. But you know, some habits you never outgrow. I have nothing against maternity clothes, but as referenced in both photos, I mostly choose to halfzip, half-button, rubberband and recompose my favorite things as long as I can. I think I just have a harder time finding favorites in all the maternity things, save a few sets of pajamas.

This is going into that endless place. I will let you have a rest from me now.

Oh, no wait! Kim at TrueUp cared enough to ask me some questions about Good Folks and I hopefully answered with a little insight, so go here to read. Also, I have to tell you to go see Coraline in the theatre! My heart raced at the opening sequence with the gorgeous and incredibly satisfying up close views of a doll being cut, stitched, stuffed, etc. So lovely. Go see, go see. ALSO, I didn't think I could like Radiohead more, but their Grammy performance with the band kids was perhaps the best Grammy peformance I've ever seen. I only usually catch what I wanna catch, and skip a lot of it. And I just don't have anything to say about M.I.A.'s b&w ladybug that she stretched over her due to deliver a baby body, except more power to her. I hadn't thought of it.

have a great day! xoxo, Anna

Multi-tasking, naturally

And this would be pattern reveal part deux. I give you the Multi-tasker Tote. This sweetie has already been toted all over town avec moi (I'm sorry, I don't know where all the French is coming from today) and it is settling in to be my very favorite bag. For reals. Comfortable to have on the shoulder, easy to slip your hands in and out of the four outer pockets and firm enough on the bottom, to not have your contents on a constant spin cycle. Voila!



More importantly, for a sewing pattern, it is so enjoyable how this one comes together, if I do say so myself, and I did. But one of my pattern testers said so, too. She said she felt like a magician putting in the side outer pockets, and my heart skipped a beat at the sound of that. I am really not so hard to please.



No surprise I had to also whip up a few totes with Good Folks. But maybe, there is a surprise.....



Is that fabric lining the pockets and the inside a bit shiny?

Oh, why yes it is, how nice of you to notice!

It's oilcloth pals! Not the hard, plastic-y, send your stitch-lines in every direction (not to mention your use of foul language) variety of oilcloth either! It is our lovely, supple, beautiful Free Spirit cotton that has been coated, not too shiny and not to matte, but just right to let the colors of the fabric shine. The texture is so usable, and as you can see, it gathers...leaving all kinds of application doors open, such as darling rain slickers and hats, bibs, baby bags, lunch totes, splat mats, (oh! the garment bag pattern from my book!) and with a 55" width, a mere pair of pinking shears would give you a wipeable tablecloth in about 7 minutes. Multi-tasking. Have I sold it?



I'm sold. So far, the oilcloths will be offered in the two prints shown, the Small Gathering/Citrus print and the Fortune/Sun print, but bang some pots and pans together and demand we do more, and we may do more. I plan to put together a cutesy downloadable idea sheet for these goods to inspire some fun projects for you. They are trailing the rest of the goods in arrival, but should be here sometime this month. Oh-and the patterns should be shipping this month too!

Whew. Two fun things on the way. I am nothing if not expectant.

Good Wednesday, xoxo,Anna