Bellagio Pillows

Hello everyone,
I've seriously neglected this blog for the past couple of weeks.  Things have been really busy here as I've been getting patterns finalized for Market.  I'm not actually going this time but the patterns are being sent to distributors in time for the show.  I have four new designs as well as four magazine patterns that are being republished.  More on that later...
Speaking of Market, while I was there in the spring the folks at Belagio Enterprises invited me over to their booth to select some fantastic trim to match some of my collection.  They graciously shipped me a couple of yards of each after Market.  It is so fun to combine these fancy trims with patchwork for home decor items.  You don't need a lot to make projects really special.  Belagio Enterprises makes some fanastic pom-pom trim that I used with Swiss Chocolate and Ambrosia...

The trim with the pom-poms on one side allows for easy mitering...

The flat trim is perfect for sewing along seams...

I love the blue buttons on the back!

Lots of circles on these!

I used two types of ribbon trim with Veranda.

The ribbon that is pleated on one side is perfect for mitered corners...

The ribbon pleated on both sides is so pretty sewn down the pillow along the main seams....

I love all the trims, but the white ribbons might be my favorites because they are so versatile.

Complimentary tutorial coming soon!  Happy sewing!

Amanda

"Pinwheel Garden" for Fons and Porter's Love of Quilting

This one has been gone from home for so long that I almost forgot about her.

Luckily Fons and Porter didn't.  "Pinwheel Garden" features my Ambrosia collection for Robert Kaufman and, best of all, it is being featured as a free pattern on the Love of Quilting website that you can download  here. 

One note:
An attentive reader was downloading the pattern and noted the following:

I fell in love with your "Pinwheel Garden" quilt that was featured in the latest edition, May/June 2011.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that I could download it.  In reading through the instructions, I noticed that the names of the small templates may have been reversed.  It appears that the name for the "Small Fill-In Template" on page 4 should have been named the "Small Take-Away Template and vice versa. 

So be sure to make a note on your pattern.  Thanks, Linda!

You can still find most of the Ambrosia line at Fat Quarter Shop.  And the two prints that they have sold out of can be found over at Wondrous Woven Fabrics.  And it looks like Fabric Shack has them all!

Just to make it super-easy for you to order materials should you want to whip up this quilt, here are the SKUs:

• 1/2 yard pink floral (AAM-10757-193 )
• 3/4 yard blue floral (AAM-10757-192)
• 3/4 yard blue leaves (AAM-10758-192)
• 1 yard purple crackle (AAM-10760-192)
• 1-1/4 yards brown crackle (AAM-10760-193)
• 1-1/2 yards yellow circles (AAM-10759-136)
• 3/4 yard dark pink medallions (AAM-10756-193)
• 3/4 yard light pink circles (AAM-10759-193)
• 1 yard dark green medallions (AAM-10756-192)
• 1/2 yard medium green leaves (AAM-10758-193)
• 5/8 yard light green circles (AAM-10759-192)
• 3-1/2 yards backing fabric - anything from the Veranda line will work

The Fons and Porter curved seam templates are also very helpful.

 

Happy sewing!
Amanda

P.S.  I had a momentary lull in sewing last night in order to get out a scrapbook collection and last night we were able to (pause for dramatic effect)... eat in the dining room!

Cuddle Up!

I'm so excited to share "Cuddle Up", my latest free pattern, with you!  I think I have mentioned that we are big fans of Cuddle fabric here.  Huge fans.  We all have robes made of Cuddle and blankets made of Cuddle, so the next logical step is, of course, pillows made of Cuddle!

I wanted to trim these soft pillows with pieced cuffs. Cuddle comes in a wide range of colors and I easily found some that perfectly coordinated with my Ambrosia line.  Oh - and I made sure that the edges of the cuddle fabric are completely encased in the seams in this pattern - so NO shedding after you sew.

And then I had to sew a neckroll pillow, of course.  I LOVE how neckroll pillows look, and couldn't resist adding some trim.

Of course, I could hardly expect my ten year old to be enthusiastic about the flowery nature of these designs so I whipped up one for him in Robert Kaufman's Dr. Seuss fabric.

He has since said that, when his Dr. Seuss pillow is in the wash, he would consider using one of the other pillow cases so as not to go back to an ordinary pillow.  Supreme compliment, don't you think?

Mario at Shannon Fabrics gave me a great tip for times when you are working with lots of Cuddle: after you have cut your Cuddle fabric, but before piecing, throw it in the dryer.  It really eats up those little pieces of fuzz.  Thanks, Mario!

One more thing... I just recently joined twitter.  I'm a novice in the social networking arena but I am going to take the plunge.  After all, only quilters and crafty people might be interested in following me and we are the nicest people in the world, if we do say so ourselves!  As an aside, my computer-genius programming brother was no help in this area so I secretly want to be the expert in this one litle corner of the tech world - ha ha!  If any of you have any interest in joining and watching me stumble along in the social networking world I'd be grateful.  Just click on the twitter button on my sidebar and sign up!

I hope you all enjoy the pattern!


Amanda

And the winner of the Ambrosia Giveaway is...

Carol!  She said:

I am a new follower and really have been enjoying your blog and the creative ideas. Of course I'd like to win fabric, I think my favorite is the tote bag, however the place mat is very close in this race.

Carol, please contact me with your snail mail address by this Friday (the 18th) to claim your prize!

Thanks to everyone who entered and either became a follower or already was one.  I really appreciate it.
Happy sewing!
Amanda

An Ambrosia Giveaway!

Ryan Walsh interviewed me about the development of Swiss Chocolate over at I'm Just a Guy Who Quilts!  So, in case you haven't had about enough of me blabbering on about how excited I am about this collection, hop on over to his blog and leave a comment for another chance to win a precut of Swiss Chocolate.  (Thanks for the interview, Ryan.) 

In conjunction with this, I thought it might be fun to do an Ambrosia giveaway. 

You still have until midight tonight to sign up for the Swiss Chocolate Giveaway that I'm doing in conjunction with Fat Quarterly.  And remember, you have until tomorrow night to enter the giveaway at Cluck Cluck Sew, too!

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

So, who would like a half yard bundle of Ambrosia?
To enter:

1. Become a follower of my blog.
2. After becoming a follower (or if you already are one), leave me one comment on this post saying that you are a follower and tell me what your favorite free pattern is on my blog (You can find links on the sidebar.) (MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE A WAY FOR ME TO CONTACT YOU SHOULD YOU WIN.)

Please leave only one comment.

The deadline for this giveaway is the end of day Friday, February 11th.
Thanks everyone!
Amanda

"A Rows Garden" in Quilts and More

Introducing "A Rows Garden", in this Spring 2011 issue of Quilts and More...

Didn't they do a wonderful job photographing that quilt? My daughter and I are swooning over the purple walls and yellow bed. LOVE LOVE LOVE the yellow bed! "A Rows Garden" is a bed-sized quilt that is simple to put together. The blocks are quite big and the fabric does most of the work for you. It features prairie points on the top and bottom. If you at all skittish about trying them, they really aren't hard. I took some photos of the process while making this quite, which you can find here and here...

Oh - and Robert Kaufman put in the sweetest candy bar add using my mocha colorway of Swiss Chocolate on another page in this issue - look...

The top two photos in this post sit on a backdrop of my newest Ambrosia design, in which I pieced the Lazy Angle blocks. No instructions are available as of yet (soon, if I can get my act together), but here is a sneak peek...

Have a wonderful weekend and happy sewing!
Amanda

San Clemente Tote

I received the new Keepsake Quilting catalog in the mail today. Look at this cute San Clemente Tote pattern by Stephanie Prescott featured on page 95. It uses a "Garden Floral Medley" featuring Ambrosia. I think it is really cute! (Of course, I'm not prejudiced or anything.)

A Well-Dressed Table

This morning I uploaded my new complimentary pattern, "A Well-Dressed Table"!  It features reversible blossom-shaped placemats in my Ambrosia fabric with matching lined napkins. 

I was thrilled to see that many of you who signed up for the Fat Quarter Shop Swiss Chocolate giveaway last week were interested in doing home-dec projects with that line.  Swiss Chocolate prints would work well with this pattern as well - you could do one side in the chocolate color story and one side in the mocha!  (I'll be introducing a complimentary table runner  pattern for Swiss Chocolate soon.)

If you get a chance to whip some of these up in any fabric, please post them to my pattern Flickr group. 
Happy sewing!
Amanda

"Just Dessert"

The February/March version of Quilters Newsletter came today.

My diamond quilt, "Just Dessert" is on page 68! Don't let the diamonds fool you into thinking this might too difficult a project - this quilt is made with strip sets. If you have only made things with squares and rectangles this is a good next step to expend your piecing skills. (You can pick up yardage for this quilt at the Fat Quarter Shop.)

Also in this issue, a GREAT memorial article on Bonnie Leman.

Hope you have a great week!
Amanda

An Ambrosia Bag

Julie, of Jaybird Quilts, emailed me a link to an image she found this morning. Tina, thanks for making this bag in Ambrosia! I love the springtime colors I LOVE it!



Amanda

More Lazy Angling

My mom/International Retail Distribution Manager (she prefers exalted titles) was here for a few days and I gave her a basic quilting tutuorial.  Some of you might remember that she tried quilting a few years ago.  Always overly enthusiastic...  ahem... she chose this pattern:

I finished it because she is my mom and also happens to be the most enthusiastic gift recipient ever.

This time we are starting with the basics. I taught her how to do flying geese units. (This is all part of my secret, diabolical plan to get her quilting by the time she moves down to North Carolina next year.) Mom is going to make up a bunch in Swiss Chocolate and we are going to make up a placemats, napkins, a table runner, and even upholster her piano bench and dining room chairs in the Mocha colorway. (Yes, I am a lucky recipient of that overly enthusiastic gene, so the two of us together are up to no good.) Patterns will appear here later next year.

You can do it, mom!

Also this week, I played more with the Lazy Angle Ruler. I have Joan's Lazy and Lovin' It Book, which has oodles of great ideas.

In addition to making (12-1/2") blocks from 4 (6-1/2") squares,I made some from 9 (4-1/2") squares.

There are even more possibilities with 9 squares. I can't decide which block I like best. I love this ruler!

Happy holidays!
Amanda

Patchwork Bouquet

Introducing "Patchwork Bouquet", another complimentary pattern I designed for Robert Kaufman using their new line of Artisan Batiks - Emma.  It would work well in a wide variety of fabrics.  You can download it off of Robert Kaufman's site.



Patchwork Bouquet  (Scrappy)




Patchwork Bouquet  (Lapis)




Patchwork Bouquet  (Petal)




Patchwork Bouquet  (Olive)




Patchwork Bouquet  (Peony)


Happy sewing!

One more note:  I have sold out of "Garden Beds" quilt kits already, but you can order the fabric for this kit  from Fabric Shack as they are carrying the entire line.