Modern Designs for Classic Quilts Blog Tour

**giveaway is now closed, thanks for entering**

I am so excited to share a wonderful new modern quilting book with you. Not only does it contain beautiful quilts and fun projects for all levels of sewers, but I was lucky enough to be able to draw the technical illustrations for the book! At the end of 2011, I was contacted to see if I would be interested in doing the technical illustrations for a sewing/quilting book. For me this was a dream come true! (Seriously, I love to illustrate and technical illustrations are like mini puzzles, those quilting diagrams are a blast to put together) Luckily, I managed to get the chance to work on the project and am so excited with the outcome.

The book is so well-thought out, it contains great instructions, amazing photos and well-written instructions. It definitely deserves a spot in any quilter's book collection.

For fun, I thought I would share a few of my favorite illustrations from the book:

and my absolute favorite is this one (I am just in love with that pencil and ruler, what can I say, it's awesome!):

I am so honored to have been part of such an amazing project. Not only that but, Kelly and Andie, F+W Media, and the publisher, generously gave me an extra copy of the book to giveaway here on the blog!

Just leave a comment on this post and make sure to have a way for me to contact you by email. Good ol' Random Number Generator will pick the lucky winner out on November 23 (yepp, a Black Friday bonus) Good Luck everyone!

And here is the schedule for the blog tour!

  11/5 -  Andie & Kelly, AndieJohnsonSews & Stitchy Quilt Stuff
  11/6 -  Lindsay of CraftBuds
  11/7 -  Jill of Darling Jill Quilts
  11/8 -  Faith of Fresh Lemons
  11/9 -  Tracy of Generation Q
  11/10 - Angela of Quilting is my Therapy
  11/11 - Shannon of Stitch Craft Create
  11/12 - Laurie of Scarlet Fig
  11/13 - Kaysie of kzjo’s studio {that's me!!}
  11/14 - Jessica of A Little Gray
  11/15 - Mary of The Tulip Patch
  11/16 - Deborah of Whipstitch
  11/17 - Lindsay of  The Cottage Mama
  11/18 - Jenny of Sew Kind of Wonderful
  11/19 - Carla of LollyQuiltz
  11/20 - Thomas of Thomas Knauer Sews
  11/21 - Brenda of Pink Castle Fabrics
  11/22 - Lindsay + Liz Rea of CraftBuds + Inspire Me Grey
  11/23 - Sarah of The Last Piece
  11/24 - Andie, Kelly, and Cara of AndieJohnsonSews, Stitchy Quilt Stuff , and Cara Quilts

A few fun things:

first of all i caved and bought this:

which means that I joined The Farmer's Wife Quilt Along. I am so excited and am planning on using up tons of my scraps for this one. I am already a bit behind so I am going to work on catching up on the blocks this week. You can find all the details on the Fussy Cut blog and on msmcporkchopquilts blog

I also picked up some fabric for a couple of quick projects I am hoping to complete this week:

sorry the colors are way off but it is a little bit of kona in characoal, the two in the middle are from louLOUthi by anna maria horner and 4 fat quarters of prince charming by tula pink.

I am also making a little quilted happy 100th birthday card for one of my relatives. Here is the basic design (i am going to add a little hand embroidery then some fun machine stitches):

I used some scraps from my innocent crush quilt and I love how it looks like confetti!

Last week's thrifting scores...

12 patterns (can't wait to make the romper and the boys jacket, so cute!) all for $3. Super great deal, and I also found a couple of more vintage sewing books to add to my newest collection addiction.

The vogue one (on the right) is awesome and the other is on sewing with knits. You never know when these will come in handy ;)!

Last weeks finds...

plus a funky cross stitch cat that I just couldn't live without! So my vintage sewing book collection just keeps on growing, plus quite a few boys patterns- which seem to be hard to find (I can't wait to make the vintage bathrobe!!!) plus a few just-for-fun ones. All for under $3, that's some serious shopping!

thrift store find...

I found this sewing book for $1 and picked up a shirt and tie for x's valentine's day card photo (but you will have to wait for those) the other day after having a lovely lunch and shopping adventure with one of my most awesome friends. Usually, my "thrifting" luck is super crummy, but I was pleasantly surprised this time. In my spare time I have been squeezing in a few projects, however, I am fairly behind on my sewing to-do list which is sort of driving me insane. Next week I am hoping to get a few projects off of my list some how. Anyways, have you had any luck finding sewing books while thrifting or any other awesome finds?

Summer Blouse

One of the many projects on my want to sew list is from the book Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross. This book has been in "my sewing library" since it came out and so far I have only made 2 that's right only 2 projects from it (one was a couple of lingerie bags and the other was a shirt for x). One of my goals before I turn 27 is to make more clothes for myself, since a) I have my degree in fashion b) I hardly have anything to wear and c) I have a lot of fabric that needs to be turned into something. I am also really trying to utilize the books that I have in "my sewing library" instead of just looking at them every couple of months and then just throw them back on the shelf to collect some dust. Now, sometimes I feel in the mood to spend the time drafting my own patterns, while that is generally fun and relaxing, there are times I just need to get something completed without spending too much time or thought on it. This is where the summer blouse comes in:

So I really loved the simplicity (it only took a few hours to whip out) and look of the pattern. Risking a little fabric (its from Joanns and was on sale, I think the total for this blouse came in under $3.00), I choose not to make a muslin and instead jumped right in with the project. Lucky for me, it worked out perfectly (Sorry, I am not actually wearing it for the photo. I did manage to wear it to the Quilt Show on Saturday and totally forgot to take a picture of me in it. Today was just a little to hot and a very busy day, so I only mustered up the energy to put it on the dress form.) The few alterations that I made were to leave off the sleeves and just roll the seam allowance on the armholes 1/4" twice and edge stitched to finish. I also chose to use a pre-made white double folded bias tape instead of making my own. This left me with a little stiffer neckline then if I had made my own since the fabric is very light and lovely. Overall, the pattern was easy to follow and worked out fairly well. It turns out that my favorite detail of the entire garment is the front placket. I love that the neckline is easily adjusted to any depth. The blouse was really comfortable to wear around on my adventure, was light and airy and I just unbuttoned it when it was really hot out. One of the Amy Butler fabrics I just picked up is destined to become summer blouse as well, but with a contrasting placket this time. I can't wait to get it started probably later this week once I get a few more things off my to-do list!  

I am working on...

so many projects right now and unfortunately don't have a ton to show for it yet. As soon as they get a little farther along, I will post some photos. However, I did pick up this book at The Quilt Barn this morning: 

*image from amazon and link to the book

So far, I am totally in love this book. It should still come in handy even though I have a toddler because it seems like so many people I know are having babies.  There are a few projects that will still work for Xavier and a nice quilt that could work for picnics. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I will be squeeze in a little time to work on a few projects from it. 

Back to School Day 3

so many books so little time! It is so funny one of the few things that my husband and I actually have in common is that we love to read. I mean really we are always reading something, but one of the quirky things is that we like to own our books. There is just something about having them, rereading them, keeping them on the shelf. So needless to say we have tons of books (*I love magazines, too, and yes, I have stacks of them all over.) Most of my books are still in boxes in the garage until we move to our own place, I just hunt down what I need. Here is a look at two of my fashion/sewing book shelves. (my must have books- some are just there cause they were mixed in with them)

 

sewing, beauty, product development, costume

  

inspiration, draping, and random books

now if there was only 1 book that I could keep from here- say in case of fire or something; it would be this one

  

also known as the "Bible" in my little fashion library. I really love everything about this book and it is my favorite book ever.... I really had I hopes of designing wedding gowns, but I slowly faded from the idea not sure why!?

Some of my favorite textbooks from school- I still use them as reference quite often.

  

*love the way it explains color theory

  

*fashion illustration

  

*a great resource for putting a portfolio together and really explains a lot about the fashion industry

Now for my favorite sewing books:

  

* I think that this book really is a must for any sewer. I use it to reference all kinds of things. It really covers everything with great diagrams and instructions. I look up styles of pockets and things like that. It is a really helpful book. 

  

*if you like to use a lot of different fabrics, I found this to be a great resource. It tells you how to treat the fabric, what needles work best and care instruction. So helpful!

  

*Great for draping on a dress form. It reallys helps to learn the process. 

I am not sure if these books are still in print. I bought most of my through barnes and noble. Some are textbooks and written as such while the Complete Sewing Guide and Fabric Savvy are geared to the home sewer. Your local library might have them as well if you are interested in them. 

I really have been working in my studio as proof here is the mess that I need to clean up before I start anymore projects. 

  

up next for tomorrow- my must haves for sketching, sewing, and organization ....