A cute idea for valentines day comes in the form of the Little Retro Aprons for Kids pattern by Cindy Taylor Oates. We used the ever popular Masha D’yans Cherie fabric collection, which we have available…barely.
The pattern also includes these mini versions of the apron for an 18″ doll or an animal that size.
So cute!
Look for Masha D’yans second line of fabric coming out this October and tune in to our blog for a sneek peek in the coming weeks.
If you don’t hear from me before, Have a great weekend!
- September
Congratulations to Ricki from Ocean Shores, WA for winning our January Project of the Month! Ricki sent us this picture of an adorable skirt she made for her daughter using fabrics from Sue Zipkin’s Juliana collection. The pattern is from Pink Fig Patterns, and can be purchased online at Sew, Mama, Sew! here.
As a prize, Ricki will receive her choice of one of our free pattern kits. If you’d like your special Clothworks creation to be considered for our February Project of the Month, send us your project photos now to
Say hello to one of our newest fabric designers, Tony Fernandes! Long before I knew anything about Tony, I fell in love with his curious little creatures in his first collection with us, Mayfly Mischief. Tony is from Northern England, and got his start as an artist at the ripe young age of 10, when he sent his cartoons to the Saturday morning childrens’ shows.
As Tony blossomed as an artist, he had the privilege of having his work presented by the British Government as a gift to the Australian Government during the Bicentennial Celebrations of 1988.
I had a little Q & A to get to know Tony a little better…I hope you chuckle as I did reading his answers to my question–what a character!
Brandi: What inspires your artwork?
Tony: the freedom and quirky randomness of everything in nature. its just lovely to be able to sit and observe a whole world by ones doorstep
Brandi: What inspires you to create?
Tony: everything from shapes and forms to tones and hues of base colours. from light falling across the moon to the shadow thrown by a bug on a leaf.
Brandi: What is your creative process?
Tony: sketchbook! sketchbook! sketchbook! – never go anywhere without one, just to jot down quick drawing or funny idea, then back to studio to get my hands on my nibs and inks and brushes and splosh color onto the finished designs – i never like to plan things as randomness and oddlines and design shapes are fun to evolve and never work if you try too hard.
Brandi: How did the artist in you evolve?
Tony: when i was a child my ma and pa always made sure that there was plenty of crayons and paper to doodle on not much time was spent indoors as i was up trees and hiding in bushes drawing wildlife – it was a wonderful time. to be creative and make mistakes and start over again and again – the freedom was the essential thing – no barriers and always another piece of paper to scribble on – it’s such a shame tv has such a strong hold on the young – there is so much more in one’s imagination.
Brandi: Describe your creative space or studio?
Tony: hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…..probably best described as a mess…. a working mess. bits of art hanging from the ceiling to the floor – proofs ready to sign/ posters/ prints/ originals hanging about/ long lost sandwiches and pots of cold coffee lost forever- mountains of books and forlorn bookcases buckling under their weight, heaps of brushes and lakes of inks and paints – it should probably be condemned but i like it as it is and it is a wonderful place to create.
Brandi: What is your favorite color?
Tony: i like greens and autumn colors
Brandi: food?
Tony: most fresh products locally farm sourced
Brandi: place?
Tony: the countryside and bits of new york and conneticut
Brandi: song?
Tony: too diverse and many to mention, everything from medieval chants through groucho marx to pop stuff
Brandi: artist?
Tony: i like picasso and rembrandt
Brandi: season?
Tony: autumn – the colors in the garden are more extreme and i like to leave the sedums and teazel etc to gather frost
Brandi: animal?
Tony: i have kept many animals but goats are the funniest. dogs most loyal and my parrott has learned how to swear…i can’t figure out how !
Check out Tony’s collection Mayfly Mischief, and be sure to check out your local quilt shop in May 2010 to get your hands on this great fabric!
A week ago I was so excited for spring, and felt it’s presence all around me as the sun shone and little blades of baby grass seemed to creep up everywhere. My chickens were out frolicking and sunning themselves, and I began to thumb through my seed catalogs and dream of my garden.
Then I woke up today to a full on blizzard! It looks like winter is back and here to stay for awhile. I am not going to get too down, though. I am going to throw on a couple layers of quilts, drink my coffee, and get cozy. Spring can wait while I enjoy my little winter wonderland.
If you need a nice cozy quilt to keep you warm until spring, check out this Jungle Soul Flannel quilt in the February/March 2010 issue of McCall’s Quick Quilts. Cathy Conley and Joann Kliewer from Bear Paw Quilting are the designers of this fun quilt. Bear Paw Quilting is the kit source for this quilt, so contact them to order your kit now, and cozy up!
I hope to be blogging about some spring projects soon…for now I am embracing winter under my layers of quilts! Happy Quilting!
I give up! For the past month I have been trying to find a 2-3 year old little girl to take photos of in this adorable dress (made from our Claire De Lune collection by Joyce, our design coordinator).
No Luck.
I hope you can still get a good sense of how adorable it really is. I can’t find the pattern that it was made from, but rest assured, when Joyce comes back from her trip to the Tokyo International Quilt festival I will pass it along to those of you interested..
Sorry for being so unprepared today, I will be much improved next entry.
-September
Chances are if you’ve been into your local quilt shop or reading American Patchwork & Quilting (AP&Q) lately, you’ve heard about the 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge. It’s all part of AP&Q’s program to donate 1 million pillowcases to local charities near you in 2010. Each participating quilt shop will have free patterns (or you can download the patterns online here), fabric kits, and serve as a drop off location for your finished pillowcases. The shops will donate to local charities, so click here to find a participating shop near you.
We are participating by sponsoring the challenge, and making up three pillowcases in our fabrics each quarter. The first three of twelve pillowcases are on the AP&Q website now.
Above is Pattern 1 in Dancing Horses by Laurel Burch. I love the little ruffles!
And here is Pattern 3 in Rose Whispers by Cedar West. Don’t you love green and pink together–one of my favorite color combos.
And finally, here is Pattern 2 in Blue Bouquet by Skipping Stones Studios. Who knew that a simple pillowcase could be so lovely!
So take the challenge today, and be sure to explore the AP&Q website. You can upload photos of your pillowcases, get ideas, and connect with others–lots of fun!
One of the things that has been so fun about starting our blog has been getting to know some of the small businesses who create and sell interesting things with our fabrics. One particular company that really got me excited is ReUsies, a small company that makes fabric sandwich bags. I found them on Twitter, and when I went to their website I just fell in love with them! I just had to buy these three Reusies below, they are soooo adorable!
I thought it would be interesting to talk with the gals behind this creative company, so we had a little Q & A…
Brandi: Where did the idea for ReUsies come from?
Karen: The idea for ReUsies came at the start of the school year when I realized my family of 4 was throwing away approximately 10 plastic baggies a day. It seemed like everything else in our school and work lunches were multi-use: lunch box, cloth napkin, water bottle, but there wasn’t a reusable baggie to hold the food contained. There was the option of storage containers but it seemed too cumbersome, especially for smaller children.
Brandi: How did the idea evolve into a business?
Karen: I approached my friend, Becky Harper (that I met when our children were in kindergarden together) because I knew she was a seamstress and also had a very entrepreneurial spirit. With her help we were able to create a solution to all of the waste, a ReUsie, which is a cotton bag lined with leak resistant nylon and sealed with Velcro. We gave them to our friends to use and give us feedback on and when we couldn’t sew enough to keep up with demand we realized we had a viable business on our hands.
Brandi: What is your selection process for new fabrics?
Karen: My partner and I try to select cotton prints that appeal to different demographics. Just because we love it doesn’t mean the rest of the world will! It has been great to find a wide variety to choose from at Clothworks and love the fact that it is a located right in our backyard. At Clothworks we have been able to find prints that will appeal to men and women as well as some great juvenile patterns.
Brandi: What do you envision for the future of ReUsies?
Karen: This first year in our business we learned a ton and next year we hope to focus on growth. Our goal is to increase our wholesale accounts and continue forming partnerships with schools. We really enjoyed working with schools across the country this Fall that wanted to use ReUsies as a fundraiser, we hope to do more of that this year.
If you’d like to get your own stash of ReUsies, just go to www.ReUsies.com, and enjoy their slick online ordering. Thanks, ReUsies Gals for inspiring me to be just a bit greener!
Congratulations to Jean of Snohomish, WA. for winning our project of the month for December! Jean’s project is a great sewing organizer from a pattern she purchased from Back Porch Quilts and Designs. You can get the pattern here. They look super handy, I might just have to get one so that I can stick with my new year’s resolution of keeping a clean and organized quilting studio!! And it’s even a small enough project to use up some old scraps that have been hanging around too long…
The fabric is from Laurel Burch’s Fanciful Felines collection. How cute! Thanks, Jean, for sharing your project with us! Jean will be receiving fat quarters from the Dancing Horses collection as a prize.
If you’d like to enter our monthly contest, send your project photos to us at We will announce the next winner on February 1st.
The holidays are over, and my quilting studio is like a scene from a horror movie! There are bits and pieces of fabric, batting, and thread strewn across the room from my last minute gift-making done in a hurry.
So for 2010 I am going to be bold and have 2 resolutions. One is to keep my studio clean, and two is to clean out my stash! I think I may take the prize for stash overload. I’ve got stacks and stacks of fabrics that I just HAD to have, and bins and bins of fabrics that were intended for great projects!
I enjoyed making small projects for Christmas so much, that I think this is how I am going to tackle my stash problem going forward. I want to find more fun, easy, small projects that can be done in an hour or two that make great gifts. My family and friends enjoyed my handmade gifts so much, and I enjoyed making them.
One of our gals in the Sample Room, Jean, made these little purses for Christmas gifts and I just adore them. I think these could become another addiction for me like the coasters were. Watch out stash, here I come! Bit by bit I may be able to make space for more new fabric!
Anyone else have a Quilter’s New Year’s Resolution? I’d love to hear from you and know I’m not the only messy-studio crazy woman around!
Happy New Year and Happy Quilting!
I was laying in bed last night going through my holiday gift list in my head and remembered 2 more people I need a little something for. AHH! I bet many of you are in the same situation, so I have a quick solution for you!
My coworker, Desiree in the Accounting Department, worked on this project with her children and brought these in for show and tell. They were made by Tessa (age 13), Gillian (age 9), and Jacob (age 7). They are super easy and quick. I became so addicted to these little coasters that not only have I made them for every single person I know, I had to make some for basically every room in my house…
Unfortunately in all of our holiday craziness at the office, we ran out of time to photograph the steps to this project, so I will try to explain the instructions as best I can. I hope these instructions make sense; if they don’t email me at and I’ll set you straight!
INSTRUCTIONS for one coaster (multiply cutting instructions by 4 to make a 4 piece set of coasters)
CUT:
Six- 5″ squares of fabrics (select contrasting fabrics if you like to add interest)
One- 5″ square of batting
PRESS:
-Select the four fabric squares you want on the top of the coaster, and press each one in half with right sides facing out. These will now be referred to as “rectangles”. Set the rectangles aside.
SEW:
-Place one fabric square right side down (wrong side facing you) in front of you. Place your batting square on top of that, and then another fabric square (this one will become the bottom of the coaster) on top of the batting with the right side facing you. Take your rectangles, and place one on the bottom of the square, raw edges out. Place the next rectangle on the left side of the square (and over the previous rectangle), raw edges out. Place the next one on the top of the square (and over the previous rectangle), raw edges out. Do the same for the last rectangle, this time tucking the end underneath the first rectangle.
-Make sure everything is lined up and using a scant 1/4″, sew all the way around the edges in a complete square, and backstitch. Turn inside out and press.
Email me if you have questions, and have fun putting the finishing touches on your holiday. Happy Quilting!
