How to fight Lex Luther using only fabric

Fall Quilt Market Preview

by Joanne Hillestad on 10/18/17

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Fall Quilt Market Preview

Happy Friday!

Fall Quilt Market is almost here and I can't wait to see many of you in person!
I'll be hanging out in Booth 2213 playing with pop-ups. You can also stop by Demo Alley on Sunday during the 1:00 - 2:30 pm session. I will be demoing the Spool Wallet.

For those of you who aren't making the trek to Houston, here is a quick sneak peek of what's new since Spring Market... Enjoy!

NEW! - FQG134 Spool Wallet
Retail - $9.00

Have Thread... Will Travel!
Wallet holds 4 spools of thread neatly with a pincushion and a zippered pocket for tools.

Finished Size: 6" x 3.5"

Spool Loops: FQGSL01 - FQGSL05
Retail $3.50
Contains 1 yards of elastic cording and 4 matching 1/2" buttons.

NEW! - FQGDU206 Winter's Catch - a Pop-Up Kit
Retail - $15.99

Make a fun Winter themed pop up that is also a gift bag for someone special! Kit includes Pattern, one Medium Pop-Up Spring, and a FQ Gypsy Label.
Finished Size: 8" D x 11" H

I recommend
Barely There Printable Fusible Web
by Swirly Girls Design

NEW! - FQGDU207 Winter Serenade - a Pop-Up Kit
Retail - $12.99

Kit includes Pattern, one Small Pop-Up Spring, and a FQ Gypsy Label.
Finished Size: 5.5" D x 8" H

I recommend
Barely There Printable Fusible Web
by Swirly Girls Design

NEW! - FQGDU208 Snow Follies - a Pop-Up Kit
Retail - $12.99

Kit includes Pattern, one Small Pop-Up Spring, and a FQ Gypsy Label.
Finished Size: 5.5" D x 8" H

I recommend
Barely There Printable Fusible Web
by Swirly Girls Design

More fun pop-ups since last market...

FQGDU204 Trick or Treat - a Pop-Up Kit
Retail - $12.99

Make a cute candy bin for Halloween.

Kit includes Pattern, one Small Pop-Up Spring, Elastic, and a FQ Gypsy Label.
Finished Size: 5.5" D x 6" H

I recommend
Barely There Printable Fusible Web
by Swirly Girls Design

FQGDU205 Spooky - a Pop-Up Kit
Retail - $15.99

Make a cute candy bin for Halloween.

Kit includes Pattern, one Medium Pop-Up Spring, Elastic, and a FQ Gypsy Label.
Finished Size: 8" D x 8" H

I recommend
Barely There Printable Fusible Web
by Swirly Girls Design

FQGDU202 Buzz & Lady - a Pop-Up Kit
Retail - $12.99

Meet Buzz the Bee and Lady the Ladybug!

Kit includes Pattern, one Small Pop-Up Spring, Elastic, and a FQ Gypsy Label.
Finished Size: 5.5" D x 6" H

I recommend
Barely There Printable Fusible Web
by Swirly Girls Design

FQGDU203 Flutter - a Pop-Up Kit
Retail - $12.99

Flutter is a cute butterfly in two designs!

Kit includes Pattern, one Small Pop-Up Spring, Elastic, and a FQ Gypsy Label.
Finished Size: 5.5" D x 6" H

I recommend
Barely There Printable Fusible Web
by Swirly Girls Design

For my Quilt Shops unable to attend Quilt Market... email me about a Shop Sample offer I have right now... quantities are limited!

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Batiks Go Retro Blog Hop

by Joanne Hillestad on 09/21/17

Batiks Go Retro!

I know I'm not alone... many of you adore batiks. There is something about the feel of the fabric and variation of pattern that draws us in! The newest collection by Tammy Silvers (Tamarinis) for Island Batik is no exception! Plus, it is soooo very fun!

Tammy debuted this collection at Spring Quilt Market in St. Louis, MO last May. I was lucky enough to be asked to make a few things for her display. First up... a Wingman Pop Up!

This is the Small Wingman (name is based on the size of pop up spring used). I have a wingman next to each of my machines and on my cutting table! They are so handy... I should have named it The Handyman! LOL

There is also a Mini Wingman that sits on the arm of your chair while you stitch. Lovely!

I also made a project bag using my Bag It Up pattern. There are 4 sizes and each has a handy pocket on the front and is fully lined. I have multiple bags in use at all time as I'm working on new patterns and projects. I love the small size for hand stitching work, the medium (shown) is great for when I'm piecing a quilt, the large and Jumbo can fit big, bulky quilts to and from the longarmer!

What's new??? Glad you asked! Here is a sneak peek at a new pattern I am releasing at International Quilt Market at the end of October... The Spool Wallet!

4 small spools of thread are neatly secured using Spool Loops elastic cording and buttons. A pocket holds your scissors and other small tools while the pincushion gives you a place for those pins and needles. Watch for it in your local quilt shops in early November!

Thanks for stopping by my blog to see all the fun I had with Tammy's Batiks Go Retro collection!

Time for a giveaway!
Pop over to my website's Batiks Go Retro page and you can enter 2 giveaways! The first is for the prizes listed below. The second is the giveaway for the Batiks Go Retro FQ bundle from Tammy! Good Luck!

Prizes:
1. FQG133 Wingman Pattern, Spring, and Spool Loops
2. FQG132 Bag It Up Pattern
3. FQG134 Spool Wallet Pattern, Foam, and Spool Loops - Shipping as soon as I finish it up!

My Giveaway is open to US and Canada mailing addresses and ends at 11:59pm om Sunday, September 24, 2017

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Hello Blog Hop

by Joanne Hillestad on 07/17/17

Hello!

Let's have a chat about a terrific fabric line by Susan Emory for Michael Miller Fabrics... Hello.

The collection is so much fun! The retro phone prints are my favorite!

Here are some of the other prints I love:

There are also ransom letters that you can use on all sorts of fun projects!

I had a blast creating with Hello...

The first thing I made was a small project bag from my pattern Bag It Up. How cute is that? Super cute!

I just love the polka dots and hashtag prints! This is a mini version of my Wingman pop up pattern. The base has a great pincushion and spool loops to hold my thread while I stitch on those bindings!

The Wingman pop up also has a small version (size is based on the spring size used). The small version is terrific sitting next to your machine! It also has a pincushion base, pockets and spool loops for your thread!

The last project I made is a medium stacking pop up with ransom letters on it... I can't reveal exactly what this one says... so I'll just tease you will half of the letters.

Thanks for stopping by my blog to see all the fun I had with Susan's Hello collection!

Time for a giveaway!
Leave a comment below telling me what you would put ransom letters on for a chance to win fun prizes!
Comments deadline is midnight on Sunday 7/23/17. Drawing will be held on Monday 7/24/17.

IMPORTANT: If you don't want to leave your email address... that's fine. However, you have to check back on Monday to see if you won. If I don't hear back from you within 10 days a new winner will be chosen. Thanks!!

Prizes:
1. FQG133 Wingman Pattern, Spring, and Spool Loops
2. FQG122 Stacking Pop Up Pattern and Medium Spring

Comments (53)

Fiesta de Azucar - Farmer Mary - Block 2

by Joanne Hillestad on 07/07/17

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Fiesta de Azucar

A Blog Hop...9 Designers, 9 Sugar Skull Blocks, 2 Border Options

Week #2

Farmer Mary - In honor of my Grandma

I'm so excited to tell you about my Grandma Mary! She lived on a farm in Northern Minnesota. As a kid, we used to visit every Summer. One of the things I remember most was exploring the barns and gardens with Grandma. I decided to use veggies on my skull because she passed her green thumb on to my mom... who then passed it on to me! The picture below is my Grandpa Ted and Grandma Mary with one of her cherished Irish Setters... Princess or Queen.

The farm was a long way off the main road. Along the driveway wild Pink Lady Slippers grew. Lady Slippers are rare, so having some growing on your property was a treat! Did you know it takes the Lady Slipper 16 years before it blooms? They can live to 50 years old as well! Crazy! We used to get so excited when we would find one! On a side note, the Pink Lady Slipper is the Minnesota State Flower.

Here is a picture is of my mom skiing on the farmstead one winter in the mid 40's.

Time to show you some of the decorative stitching I added. I am a total rookie when it comes to embroidery. I gave it my all... and fell in love the 12wt Aurifil thread in the process... so nice to work with!

I stitched around the flower with 50wt Aurifil thread. Then I added the chunky stitching in teal to give it a little pizzazz.

The haystack cheeks were a lot of fun. I stitched the pitchfork (a little uneven) and then added the yellow to give it some dimensional straw.

The carrot needed some wrinkles.

Lastly, I added the chicken footprints. I do love chickens you know!

Of course... I had to put my Sugar Skull on a pop-up!

I used the Stacking Pop-Up Pattern, 1 Large Pop-Up Refill, and 3 different Sugar Skulls.
I appliqued the skulls directly onto the Outer Side piece. It was an easy way to make something fun! Information about the extra pre-steps I took is included with the download of my Sugar Skull pattern.

Did you miss week 1's block? The Painted Lady by Purple Moose Designs... pattern is still available for purchase from Craftsy.

Blog Hop Details:
July 1st through August 26th 2017 each designer will release their skull design. On September 2nd and September 9th there will be two border designs released. Here’s the schedule along with the participants and their blogs.

July 1st – Block 1 – Terri Sontra, Purple Moose Designs
https://www.purplemoosedesigns.com/weblog/

July 8th – Block 2 – Joanne Hillestad, Fat Quarter Gypsy
http://www.fatquartergypsy.com/Lex-Luther-Blog.html

July 15th – Block 3 – Vicki Hansen, Cranberry Pie Designs
http://cranberrypiedesigns.com/

July 22nd – Block 4 – Cheryl Sleboda, Muppin
http://muppin.com/wordpress/index.php/blog/

July 29th – Block 5 – Penni Domikis, Cabin In The Woods Quilters
https://cabininthewoodsquilters.com/blog/

August 5th – Block 6 – Tammy Silvers, Tamarinis
http://www.tamarinis.com/

August 12th – Block 7 – Kate Colleran, Seams Like A Dream Quilt Designs
http://seamslikeadream.com/blog/

August 19th – Block 8 – Susan Emory, Swirly Girls Design
http://susanemory.com/

August 26th – Block 9 – Trish Frankland, Persimon Dreams
http://persimondreams.blogspot.com/

September 2nd – Border Option #1 – Tammy Silvers, Tamarinis
http://www.tamarinis.com/

September 9th – Border Option #2 – Terri Sontra, Purple Moose Designs
https://www.purplemoosedesigns.com/weblog/

October 30th – Prize winner announcements

Patterns, Prizes and other info:
Full instructions (total cost... $3) for Farmer Mary and info to make a pop-up are on my Craftsy page. Check out the next stops in the blog hop for more blocks.There will be two different border options at the end.

How to enter:
Make any project with at least one of our skull blocks, post a photo on our FaceBook group page and you get a shot at some great prizes. It’s really just that simple…

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My Day for the Curious Dream Blog Hop

by Joanne Hillestad on 12/20/16

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Curious Dream Blog Hop... I love this collection!

Welcome to my day of the Windham Fabrics' blog hop for Angela Pingel's new collection Curious Dream! I absolutely love this collection. I think the color palette was the first thing to draw me in. The prints solidified the deal. This collection just seems happy!

Bag It Up pattern (coming soon) in Curious Dream and Maribel collections.

First up I would like to show you a pattern still in development. I call it "Bag It Up". Every project needs a home while you work on it. I like to take a bag with me to the quilt shop so I can organize the fabrics and supplies from the very beginning... plus it helps save a shopping bag!

The pattern will have 4 sizes, each fully lined with a pocket on the front to hold your pattern or supplies.

Small is perfect for hand stitching. I chose the shorted handbag handle length for my model. There are two handle lengths: Over the Shoulder and Handbag.

The medium size is my favorite. It holds everything I need for most projects and is a nice size to throw over my shoulder when I'm on the go.

The large bag works for those larger projects. Maybe you need to take a quilt to the longarmer? Are you working on something bulkier?

Jumbo is huge! With a finished dimension of 18" x 18" x 6" it can hold those large king-sized quilts! I plan to use this size for quilt storage and transport to and from quilt shows and other events.

And a few cute pop ups
For those of you who are familiar with Pop Ups, it is no surprise I made a few for the blog hop! We will start with a Large Stacking Pop Up. Super cute and functional.

Next, we have a Small Stacking Pop Up with a band of pockets added around the bottom. I took a piece of mesh 4-1/2" H x 24" W. I trimmed it with a band of fabric. Then I sewed it on the front of the pop up side: Click here for more info .

My next variation uses the FQG129 Basket Pop Up Pattern and a Medium Spring. I took this basket pop up to the next level by using Seams Like A Dream's Braid Template to build the side fabric. If you haven't tried Kate's template, you should! It made piecing the side braid quick and easy.

All I did was make a 6" H x 28" W braid (I used 42 - 1-1/2" strips). Then I applied stabilizer to the back to lock all the piecing together. Lastly, I cut out the final size of the side piece per the pattern's instructions (I cut it out after stabilizer just in case the stabilizer shrunk things a bit). Then just make the Basket Pop Up as directed! I love the way it turned out!

Here is a picture of a pop up I made for the Windham Fabrics' booth at Fall Quilt Market using the Curious Dream collection.

Now for the goodies... Windham is giving away a FQ bundle everyday of the blog hop! You can enter to win by clicking here. You will be redirected to Rafflecopter. That way you don't need to leave your private contact info on my public blog. :)

I am also giving away a FQG129 Basket Pop Up Pattern, FQG123 8" Medium Pop Up Spring and a Braid Template!

Prizes shipping to US addresses only.
Giveaway ends 12:00:00 am 12/28/2016.
FQ Bundle is one prize. The Basket Pop Up is a separate prize. Two people will be chosen as winners. If I am unable to contact you by 1/5/17 a new winner will be chosen.

Thanks so much for visiting!
Jo

Enter Giveaway

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