The times: they are a changing...

That song, rendered in Bob Dylan’s nasally tone, has been running through my head lately. Before I get to explaining that statement, I’m going to tell a backstory. That’s my way. My stories don’t start at their natural beginning, there’s almost always something preceding them.

Every Wednesday morning I run with a small group of friends. In the interest of undoing all the good our running has done, we finish off the run by meeting for coffee and pastries at a local bakery. One morning someone noticed that the bakery, along with selling cinnamon rolls and lattes had set out a rack of handmade dresses, crafted by a local artisan sewer. Knowing that sewing is my business and my jam, one of my friends asked if I’d ever thought about doing something similar. I responded by boldly stating, “ There’s no money in finished items.”

Cornerstone #2

I added that folks are reluctant to pay what a handmade item is worth and that our culture of cheap things both in terms of quality and cost was the impetus behind my decision to focus my business on supplies and design work.

Detail of Arrow Mini Quilt in Indigo

That was a few years ago and, at the time, that was a financially sound decision for me. But, like the title and Bob say, “The times they are a changing.”

I don’t know if they are changing in the direction of more demand for hand made finished goods, but I do know that the magazine I did a lot of my design work for, Modern Patchwork, closed its doors along with several other sewing/quilting publications. I know that the market is saturated with commercial fabric and, despite that, new collections are coming out ALL THE TIME.

Arrow in Chroma

I know that the quilting industry is pretty small so venturing into other arenas is probably a good idea.

Cornerstone #1

Also, having been in this business for many years, I know the value of having multiple streams of income, some not even related to crafting, coming in.

So, over the past few weeks I’ve been working on a small collection of quilts, ranging in sizes from 22” square to about 40” square, most featuring commercial solids, though one has a few prints and even a few of my hand dyes. They’re all my designs, pieced and quilted by me. Most, if not all, will be the basis for future iterations as well as patterns and possibly workshops too.

They’ve all been added to my Etsy store and will be available in my website store on Monday. This being the holiday season, any quilt purchased between today and Thursday will be sent via USPS Priority Mail to ensures its arrival by Christmas.

I’ll still design, craft, and sell hand dyed and patterned fabric, partly because I really enjoy doing it and partly because it’s totally one-of-a-kind and enough people see the value in paying extra to create with truly special materials.

What I’m adding to my crafting practice and my store are beautiful (hopefully) finished pieces ready to be hung or otherwise enjoyed by others.

Making Modern Batiks:: Part 2

Recently I mentioned that one of my techniques for accomplishing a task I'm not keen on is giving myself a reward after finishing that task.

I thought I'd need to do this with creating the power point for tomorrow's lecture. it certainly seemed to as I started this morning. First, I was a little resentful that, having already created this lecture, I was essentially, redoing it from the beginning. Mind you, that resentment was directed at me, but it was definitely there.

The grumbling continued through the first few slides as they seemed to take a really long time. "I'm going to be here ALL day!" I thought. The slow progression of those first couple of slides was also my fault as I insisted (to myself) that I had to create the images in InDesign and then import them to PowerPoint. Huh?

I can't even argue this was the first time I've discovered this unnecessary step. 

Anyway, after an hour or so, things began to flow and I found myself charmed, yes charmed, by the images of things I used to make with my hand crafted fabric.

Can't decide which I like better, the coasters or the picture of the coasters perched on my beloved cake plate.

Loved looking back on these pillows. I made a bunch of them at one point.

Had to laugh at this creation. Why did I make a tufted pillow out of some drawn hand dyes??

Yesterday I mentioned that there were similarities and differences between my business then and now. The similarities are mostly in the process; I use pretty much the same wax and method for creating dye baths. I certainly finish the fabric in the same way, boiling and rinsing, washing and ironing.

What's changed is intention. A few years ago my goal was to figure out what I wanted to make, thus the tufted pillow. Now the focus is more about creating a unified look for all things a stitch in dye and figuring out how to make it as efficiently as possible. I'm more in the small batch production rather than the artisan mode. That's not a bad thing, but I'm a little surprised I didn't really notice until I spent time looking through older images.

That's also why, after a rough start, I found making the slideshow fun. I learned something about myself, laughed more than once, and now, am super excited to present my talk tomorrow night.

Making Modern Batiks

That's the title of the lecture I'm giving to the Tulsa Modern Quilt Guild this Thursday. Having given this lecture before, I thought a quick scan of previous images would refresh my memory and allow me to make a few notes updating the topic. I was wrong.

First, it's been a while since I've given this lecture and a lot of dye has passed under the bridge or into the baths. Also, my business model has changed in big ways, but, it happened over several years, so I  almost didn't notice it.  These shifts prompt me to ask what's changed and what is constant in my work?

Not surprisingly, me still being me, some things have remained the same and I thought I'd use today's post to highlight those, focusing on the changes tomorrow. In other words, I'm using this blog to prep my lecture. Thanks in advance for listening/reading.

Here's what I still do:

Make patterning using wax resist.

I no longer use carrots to make this pattern, but, a carrot does make a fine circle.

I'm still melting wax, though now just beeswax as opposed to a mixture of paraffin and beeswax and dipping a variety of tools to create patterned fabric.

A rainbow of finished fabrics on their way to a new home.

I'm still (currently) primarily making quilting cotton. 

I'm still using my hand dyes to design for magazines and books. The above images were both featured in Modern Patchwork Magazine in the past few years.

I'm still experimenting with integrating my fabrics into my another sewing passion, making garments.

I'm still and, hopefully, always answering the question, "What can I make with this fabric?"

It's Your Practice

Yesterday I went to yoga with a friend. She's visiting from out of town and, with both of us being longtime yogis, I invited her to join me at my regular Sunday morning yoga class.  If you're thinking quiet meditation and gentle stretches, think again. This is 75 minutes of fast movements interspersed with strength poses like arm balancing and handstand, but, thankfully, concluding with Savasanah or corpse pose (can't count the number of yoga instructors that claim this is the hardest pose. Big reveal: it's not). Anyway, before we went in to the studio, my friend, who is a certified yoga instructor, told me she hasn't practiced much lately and she hoped she wouldn't spend the bulk of the class in child's pose, another resting posture. I responded that she shouldn't worry because, "It's your practice." That's the yoga equivalent of a canned answer as we're often counseled in class to do the practice as we see fit, modifying or intensifying poses to meet our needs, with the argument for that being, "It's your practice."

There's a temptation to answer that admonition with, "Duh, of course it's my practice." I'm an adult and if I choose to spend the class taking a nap, well, I've paid my money and my napping isn't going to stop anyone from else from contorting and breathing and chanting, so, naturally, I'm free to do as I see fit. Except I don't and neither do you. We're social beings, desperate to fit in or even excel at whatever the task is; we look around the room and ask ourselves, " Am I doing it right?" We take our cues from each other.

That's good and bad. 

Though it's true that my napping in class wouldn't stop anyone else from practicing intensely, it sort of would. My immobile, potentially snoring body would change the energy in the class and that would affect others. John Dunne may not have practiced yoga, but I think he was right in asserting  "No man is an island, entire, of itself; every man is a piece of the continent." What you do, even on a minute, essentially, unimportant scale, affects those around you.

This is true both on and off the mat.  As creatives, we  seek out images of other's creations or take classes to motivate us to try something new and more complicated. If everywhere you looked for inspiration you found a version of the napping yogi, you might not push yourself that hard. Seeing others pushing the boundaries of creativity ignites a desire to be a better sewist/quilter/crafter because that's the prevailing energy. 

There's a flip side though and that's what the yoga instructor refers to when he/she says, "It's your practice." 

Sometimes when I'm on my mat and, if I'm being honest, it's more times than not, I look around the room and, with my negativity bias fully engaged, ask myself why I can't master that pose or this sequence as well as her across the room or him on the mat beside me. It's at those times that I remind myself that it's my practice. In other words, I need to turn my focus back to me and do what's serving my body, not engage in comparison.

As in yoga, so in life. I love Instagram and Pinterest and Facebook as much as the next gal, but, sometimes, all the "inspiration" is exhausting and I walk away from social media encounters feeling like I'm not keeping up. Worse, I start to gear my work to ensure that I have interesting images to post on a regular basis, ideally every day. That sense is further exacerbated by "helpful" posts on Pinterest about how I can schedule my Instagram posts and what I need to do to bring more people to my site. It's all too much and, most importantly, it's not my practice.  Once again, I should turn the focus inward and reengage with my creative curiosity and, whether in the yoga studio or my making space, I'm going to need daily reminders of this.

It is practice after all.

I Am My Own Grandpa

When I was a teenager, I would often come home to my mother exclaiming, " Where were you? I was worried!" Before you empathize with my poor, suffering mom, you should know that this usually followed an outing she knew about, had agreed to, and had set a return time for. She openly admitted that she began to worry before my expected arrival, so, if I was 5 minutes late, she was already in panic mode. 

This is to acknowledge that I've been gone from this space and I hope you didn't worry. I doubt you did, but...just in case.

I, however, have been worried, or, rather, distressed about my absence and it seemed like the more anxious I got, the harder it was to sit down and write. Self-employment and the self-direction it requires has lots of positives, but sometimes the complexity of being my own own boss reminds me of this Willie Nelson song where he describes a sordid family tree where he is his own grandfather. 

Country music aside, I started thinking about how I motivate myself in general and if I could apply any of those techniques to writing.

For instance, everyday I email myself a to-do list, cleverly titled, " To do today" and I reply to that email throughout the day noting finished items. I leave at least one mundane task incomplete at the end of the work day, such as a bit of fabric ironing or label making. The next morning I use that mindless activity to get myself into work mode. I "reward"myself for less-loved tasks like product photography by giving myself permission to work on a personal sewing project when that job is done (why and how sewing is both my hobby and my work is a topic for another post). Also, like many self-employed folks, I create long term goals that I break into smaller , bird by bird, tasks.

My newest technique for establishing positive habits is monthly challenges which I primarily use to boss myself outside of work. This idea was prompted by a 12-day yoga challenge I did through my yoga studio. It meant going to class everyday for a specified 12-day period, at the end of which I would get a free t-shirt. At a cost of $120 for the 12 classes, that's the priciest free t-shirt I've ever gotten, but, it was well worth it. Along with getting better at standing on my hands and physical me,  I learned so much about spiritual me. I was different in both body and mind after that challenge and I started wondering about translating that technique to other aspects of my life. Thus, the monthly challenges.

To celebrate Day 12 I made these leggings to wear to class. The pattern is The Shelly Leggings from Seamwork Magazine.

Sometimes they're basic; drink a glass of water every morning before I do anything else. Other times they focus on bettering eating habits and exercise, staying off social media, volunteering, and reading. Whatever the challenge, it's daily for a month and then reassess. 

Today is June 1 and, scary as this is, I'm going to make daily (during the work week) blogging here my monthly challenge. I am super nervous about this because: (A) Writing is HARD. (B) I've never publicly announced one of my challenges before. (C) Did I mention writing is hard? 

Like the yoga challenge that started it all, I'm curious to see how the experience will change me. I'll probably be better at writing, more mindful of what in my world merits writing about, and, possibly the beneficiary of unexpected dividends and knowledge.

But, will I get a free t-shirt?

Looking Back to Look Forward

The other day my eldest daughter (Duke Law, 2017...as a Jewish mother I'm contractually obligated to insert that) told me that, for the past few years, she has started her year by ascribing to it a single word. Think compassion or intention or resilience.

I'm all over that kind of thing, so I started thinking about what word I wanted to guide my life in 2018.

Then I said, " Hey, wait a minute!" And, yes I said this rather than just thought it because I talk to myself. "How can I decide what I want for the coming year if I haven't looked back at the previous?" 

I don't think I can, so I'm going to take some time to do just that. Starting with these:

From top to bottom, left to right: Half-Square, the Sequel, Gingham Ombre, Picnik, Half-Square, Medusa, Four Triangle Ombre, Mosaic of Eight, Simple Jim, and Flying Dice

These are the quilts I designed and pieced this past year, 3 have been or will be featured in Modern Patchwork Magazine and 4 (Simple Jim, Mosaic of Eight, Flying Dice, and Medusa) were created to promote my new modern batik line for Robert Kaufman Fabrics, Mark to Make. I'm in the midst of writing and illustrating all those patterns for their mid-February 2018 release. But that's next year. Right now I'm remembering, not planning.

This past year, I've also sewn a lot of clothes, almost exclusively for myself (when I say that I really mean exclusively). I faced and tackled my fear of sewing with knits. I even hand patterned and dyed some knit fabric to make this:

Pattern is Astoria from Seamwork Magazine.

Also, I tried my hand at hacking several garment patterns, either by altering them or using knits where wovens were called for and vice versa, learning a lot about making clothes in the process.

I am excited about all the possibilities, but can't talk about what's next up because, like I said, this is the look through the rearview window. 

And, I have lots of favorites, that is books, websites, articles, newly discovered makers and artists who I've either shared with my newsletter readers or bookmarked for myself. 

(Breaking the rules here) I'll be listing those in another Year in Review post.

If I were to name THE most significant thing that happened to me this past year and it's been a big one with everything from new directions in my work to running my first marathon in 5 years to my daughter (you know, the lawyer) getting married, I'd have to say it's starting to volunteer with Back on my Feet.  With chapters across the nation, BOMF helps to combat homelessness through running. Yes, that's a real technique and a totally revolutionary approach to this problem. BOMF recruits folks from shelters and recovery programs for runs three times a week. They learn that exercise can help you cope and plan and direct your life and, of course, BOMF offers additional resources like job training, mental health, school and housing assistance. The first thing folks get from BOMF is running shoes.

Twice a week I get up at 4:30 am, drink my coffee, and drive to parking lot adjacent to the Salvation Army Shelter in downtown Austin. I meet up with my fellow volunteers and the folks we refer to as "our members"  We warm up, choose a running route, and then huddle together to recite the Serenity Prayer. Then we each stretch a hand toward the center of the circle and, on the count of three, yell," Back on My Feet!"

While we run we talk about important stuff and silly stuff. We support each other and build community. Several of the folks I've met at BOMF have also started attending another running group I participate in (this one's just about running...and possibly eating). We ALL learn how connected we are and that's what makes it such a powerful experience for me.

Actually, that might just be my word for 2018: connected.

Oops, am I looking forward again?

What about you, what's your word for 2018?

Knowing your Process

Every Wednesday morning I have an early morning run with a group of friends. It's 8 miles through Northwest Austin that thankfully begins at 5:30 in the morning. And, I say thankfully because there are hills involved and the best way to tackle hills is to not be able to see them. Consider that running tip #1.

Anyway, we've had a recent addition to our little group, a gal I know from my larger running group, but have never really gotten a chance to talk with one on one. 

As we're running up one of the hills, she asks me what I do. 

That is running tip #2: Talking makes the running easier by keeping your mind on things other than hills and humidity.

After my brief description of my work, she asks me a question that (figuratively, we're running here) stops me in my tracks. " How do you come up with your ideas?" she asks.

I shouldn't have been, but I was struck with how complicated the answer to that question is.

Running tip #3: Though chit-chat is great, deep, thoughtful conversations make running harder. Keep the chatter light.

 I couldn't give a great answer as I trudged up the hill, but I've been thinking a lot about her question since.

Often the ideas come partly out of necessity and partly from design questions I've carried around, but usually some image will spark me to start playing with fabric.

That's been particularly apparent in thinking about my current WIP.

This is where it is today, 8/18/2017.

The necessity aspect of this quilt design in progress was this:

Fat Quarter bundle of my new collection for Robert Kaufman, Mark to Make.

I love making stuff, but this is a business and having a design that can be crafted out of a pre-cut bundle of my new fabric is a good idea. Also, I really like working with pre-cut bundles. I feel like the parameters inherent with having a set group of fabrics you're working with helps the design process. So, from the get-go I knew my design would utilize these fabrics.

And then I saw this:

That background pink just floored and surprised me. I'm not a pink person...ever, but that color just grabbed me and demanded I pay attention.

Then I remembered I had about 1.5 yards of Kona's Color of the Year, Flamingo and that, in the deep recesses of my mind there were some vague, amoeba-like thoughts about re-interpreting a design I had originally created for my book, Fresh Quilting: Fearless Color, Design, and Inspiration.

All that, plus a wee bit of sketching and talking to myself and I was ready to start cutting and sewing.

If I think back, especially to my designs of the past few years, all those ingredients, need, some underlying question, and the spur of an image, are present.

Which brings me to running tip #4: Know what works for you. I prefer early morning, no music, and the company of friends. I know I need those elements for a successful run. Your needs may be different. It's all about knowing your process.

Making a Mark

I owe it all to my friend, Nan. 

She had come out to help me sell my wares at QuiltCon in Pasadena two years ago. 

I had pretty much decided that I was going to stick to hand patterning and hand dyeing my fabric myself. I'd tried reproducing it digitally and, although my first collection looked great and sold well, I just didn't feel the following collections really captured the intense colors and the clarity of patterning that I felt I could create with my own two hands. Also, my business was doing well both online and at quilt shows.

Nan thought otherwise and encouraged me to chat with the folks at Robert Kaufman. 

I was, frankly, also intrigued by the quality of hand dyed, yet commercially produced, lines coming from folks like Allison Glass and Hoffman with their Me&You designs.

So, I went over to the Kaufman booth, was warmly and enthusiastically greeted, and the process began.

There were a few hiccups along the way, but the finished product is beyond my wildest dreams.

And I think you'll like it too.

Mark to Make features 6 different hand dyed and patterned prints in a variety of both neutral and bold color ways for a total of 33 prints. Many of them will be familiar to you because I've been making and selling them in my online shop.

Are you a fan of this design?

Since it's introduction at QuiltCon in Pasadena 2 years ago, LOVE has consistently been my most popular print.

It's available in 4 color ways in Mark to Make.

How about these?

Mark to Make features this print in 8 color ways.

I used all of them to make this:

Had to include this shot. I love the quilt AND the car!

Mark to Make includes all my latest and most popular hand crafted prints made in much the same way I make them. 

I describe my fabrics as modern batiks for modern sewers. I've always striven to make a graphic, color-saturated, slightly playful fabric that's ideal for modern quilts and indie garments.

Robert Kaufman took my vision and managed to recreate it on a much larger scale.

Want to see a little video I made with the entire collection? Check it out here.

Otis

It's been 9 months since I last posted. That's a long time. 

But here I am and a lot has happened in the past 9 months.

I'm not going to fill you in on all of that, but I am going to fill you in on a few new things.

#1 (I freaking love lists): I have a new fabric line with Robert Kaufman Fabrics releasing in just a few days, August 11 to be exact. By releasing I mean the cat (I didn't even plan that pun, but I'm liking it) will be let out of the bag. While I can't show you any pictures of yardage or finished projects, except this: 

All that lovely quilting on the back of one of the 3 quilts I designed to feature my new collection. Quilting by the uber-talented Gina Pina.

I  can tell you that this line features beautiful, hand dyed prints many of which you've loved (hint, hint) in my online store. Also, this fabric is produced in much the same way I make it, but on a larger scale. 

This has been in the works since last summer and it has taken all my willpower to keep it to myself.

#2: I'll be a vendor again this year at both The International Quilt Festival in Houston this fall and at QuiltCon in Pasadena, California next February. I'll be selling loads of fabric, both the kind I produce in my garage and, at QuiltCon, the kind Kaufman produces in theirs, as well as all my quilt patterns, both new and old.

Like this one:

The quilt featured in the previous images is called Clerestory. The PDF for this pattern is available in my online shop

#3: I have a cat. You would have never guessed, right?

Everyone, this is Otis. Otis, this is everyone.

It's long and complicated story as to how I, an avowed, life-long dog lover and cats, not so much, have fallen in love with this guy, but, he has me wrapped around one, if not all, of his furry, little paws. So much so that I have essentially devoted my return blog post to him. 

But, there you have it. You never know what tomorrow may bring.

Hands Up

I do all my best thinking while driving.

I know I'm supposed to be paying attention to the road, and, based on my driving record, I must be paying some attention, but I do think a lot when I'm behind the wheel.

 My Mom used to write birthday poems for each of her grandchildren on their big day and when complimented on an especially well-written bit of verse would respond by saying, " Yeah, I had to take a lot of baths to come up with that." She obviously did all her thinking in the tub.

I'm a shower person, so that leaves the road for thinking.

All this is to say that the other day I was thinking about the fabric I create and marveling at how, despite efforts to make it as uniform as possible, each piece, and I mean each piece, is different from the next.

That's what makes it so great, of course, but I still find it a bit astounding. Every time I draw a line or write "love" the mark looks just a little different. 

That realization started me to thinking about whether I wanted to include my hands in the product shots I take. Well, not just the realization, but a general frustration with how difficult taking product shots can be.

Consider this shot:

One of our newest prints, Double Dutch Dots.

You know what's hard? Other than patting your head and rubbing your stomach simultaneously? Keeping wrinkles out of fabric long enough to photograph it. Even the tiniest wrinkles show up. But, if I include a hand in the shot, I can apply a little pressure, smooth the wrinkles, and give the fabric a bit of scale, all at the same time.

It makes sense to include the hands that make the fabric in the product shots of the fabric. Also, an extended arm in combination with the auto-focus feature of my DSLR and a bit of Photoshop magic and the entire process is not only easier, but faster.

My hope is that this simpler, more streamlined, method of documenting the work of my hands will mean that more of it appears here and in my store rather than just at retail shows.

I'd love to hear what you think. Hands up or down?

Screenshot Inspirations

I take a fair amount of screenshots, most not accidental like the one above.

I take and keep these shots for a couple of reasons: some patterning, color, or opportunity caught my eye and I want to hold on to it or I'm struck by someone's creation and plan on sharing it in the "Current Loves" section of my newsletter.

If you don't subscribe to my newsletter, then (a) you should and can by filling out the form at the bottom of the page and (b) today's your lucky day because I'm going to share a set of "Current Loves" that I've compiled exclusively for you all. Also, unlike the newsletter, these inspiration links will include pictures. 

What constitutes a current love? Pretty much anything that I'm excited about. It's almost always making related, but I've included links to books I'm enjoying, recipes I've tried and even a video or two. Think smorgasbord. 

So, here goes, the blog edition of Current Loves (links included in captions):

By Hand London Sewing Patterns

 I think I've mentioned it here about 5,635, 259 times that I'm a selfish sewer (sewist? Could we come to some consensus on that term, please?) and love nothing better on a Saturday afternoon than sewing up a frock or top for my most appreciative recipient, me. I often scour instagram and pinterest looking for apparel sewing inspiration as well as indie pattern makers and am a big fan of the designs at By Hand London.

Giucy_Giuce via instagram.

Looking for color inspiration? Looking for fun, vibrant quilts? Looking for interesting photography? Follow Giucy_Giuce on instagram and that will get delivered to your feed on an almost daily basis.

Irena Swanson at tubepiecing.com.

A moment of honesty: I've not looked into what tube piecing is. I'm a visual person and I just like the pretty pictures.

I found Irena Swanson on instagram. I found all of these people on instagram. Take home message: instagram equals inspiration (and a lot of pictures of other people's cats).

I love graphic, simple , patterned-focused quilts and this gal delivers that. If you're interested in her specialized piecing method, check out the link under the photo.

Jen Rossotti on instagram.

There's definite quilt inspiration here. 

I first saw this quilt at QuiltCon this past February and started following Jen Rossotti on instagram about 2 seconds afterwards.

My final link has no image, but is a part of my daily life. I am a devoted listener to audio books and by devoted I mean constant. Love is too weak an adjective to describe how I feel about Audible.  It may be big and it may be corporate, but being an Audible member has so many benefits including their new channels feature. When I'm patterning fabric or sewing, I look forward to listening to (though I like to delude myself into thinking I'm "reading") a book. Even on the weekend when I'm selfishly sewing I do so while listening to an audiobook. It makes the process feel retreat-like.

I highly recommend it!

And all the other links.

Want more inspiration delivered right to your inbox? I think you know what to do. :)

The Quilt is Back on the Bed

That's a sign the quilt show is over.

This past weekend I brought my hand patterned and dyed wares and my cowboy boots to the Capital of Texas QuiltFest in my beloved hometown of Austin, Texas.

My booth features lots of handcrafted fabric, quilts and pillows, but, oftentimes, this quilt generates the most interest.

Along with paper versions of this pattern, I sell the PDF in my shop.

But, before it can do that, I have to take it off my bed where it is in daily use.

Other points of interest in my temporary 10' x 10' home of three days was the rainbow of half yards I created with the nearly 170 yards of fabric I patterned and dyed in preparation for this show and as a starting point for my booth in November at the International Quilt Festival in Houston ( I actually grew up in Houston, but do not consider it my hometown).

A lot of this fabric has gone to new homes, especially if it had the word "love" written on it, but I have 6 weeks (yikes) between now and then and I'll be making lots and lots more.

For almost real time updates of what's new in my fabric world, check out my instagram page. I'll be posting pictures of fabric as well as newly made samples to hang in my booth. I'm even thinking of a new sign for my booth that features my logo and the phrase, "Hand dyed modern batiks for modern quilts". I considered "modern batiks for modern quilts". I often use the hashtag modern batiks when posting to instagram, but I want customers to know that these are not mass-produced, commercial re-creations of batiks, but the absolute, real mccoy. We pattern, whether via drawing or stamping, every single piece of fabric. And by we, I mean me and my assistant. It happens in my home studio in lovely Austin, not half a world away. 

Anyway, all that seemed a bit long for a shop sign, so I thought I'd just add the phrase hand dyed to communicate that. What do you think? The sign hasn't been made yet, so I'm open to suggestions.

Also, as always, my online shop is available if you didn't have a chance to stop by this weekend and won't be in Houston. 

Just a girl who can't say no...

Remember the scene from the musical Oklahoma where Ado Annie declares, " I'm just a girl who can't say no," ?

 Well...me too.

Annie's referring to her penchant for kissing every boy in the county and I'm just referring to sewing with fabric. One is potentially more exciting than the other, but the inability to resist is the same.

My particular problem is not buying fabric, but wanting to craft with it. My job is patterning and hand dyeing fabric and, while I love my job, I do spend a lot of time planning projects with the very fabric I'm supposed to be selling. 

Like this:

When I listed the Two Stripes Fat Quarter Bundles in my store, my head started to fill up with ideas for patchwork featuring these fabrics.

Most of them involved using the bundle fabrics exclusively, 

but I can see mixing them in with solids as well. 

My pinterest inspirations board has over 2,000 pins and, despite being heavily weighted toward quilts made in solids, offers a lot of possibilities for tops that incorporate these stripes. 

Personally I'd like to use this pattern to work in these hand dyed beauties.

Abi's Coins Quilt Pattern PDF

This first version was made with a combination of Allison Glass's Hand Crafted II prints and a beautiful Kona cotton in blue, but I'm so tempted to grab a handful of these stripes and a different, but equally bold solid, and make a second quilt in this pattern.

What can I say?

Apparently not no.

LOVE is all you need

You don't exactly have to struggle for a blog post title when the word "love" is written all over your fabric.

Though I don't know if it's all (the Beatles made me say it) you need, it's certainly a good start. I've added a bunch of love to my store today both in bundles and in a variety of individual lengths up to two yard lengths! Can you say "love" skirt or top? 

I know you didn't ask, but, if I was going to make a top or skirt with this pattern, I'd pick either the Gemma tank from Made by Rae or the Beignet skirt from Colette Patterns. 

Now comes the hard part.

Which color way to choose?

LOVE in White and Grey

LOVE in Pale Blue and Raspberry

Love in White and Indigo

Getting the Skinny on Skinny Stripe Grids

Confession time: I'm a selfish designer. 

Some people are selfish sewers, primarily sewing for themselves or because they want to try a particular pattern and, frankly, I'm one of those too, but my design interests are pretty self-focused as well. 

I assume there are folks who ask themselves questions regarding what their customers want to see them create or what trends appear to be on the upswing, but I'm motivated by what I want to try in terms of patterning and color.

I can't decide if that's a good or bad thing, but it's a thing and it's why I designed this pattern, skinny stripe grids.

Skinny Stripe Grids in indigo and white.

It's very simple really; I'd been patterning with simple horizontal lines and wanted to create a freehand drawn grid as well and to create that gird in a variety of color combos.

Skinny Stripe Grids in Pale Blue and Grey

Skinny Stripe Grids in Coral and Raspberry

Skinny Stripes Grids in Lemon and Amber

Since I selfishly wanted the fabric, so much so that I designed and created it, it's probably no surprise that I've already sewn several items with it.

A wee quilt.

A version of Purl Soho's City Gym Shorts (love this pattern!)

The Kenedy dress from Seamwork Magazine in hand dyed rayon.

Like most of you, I love sewing; that's why I'm writing and you're reading. But, there's just something more when the sewing is done with really special fabric. I'll sew no matter what, but give me a length of hand dyed fabric, and I'll sew with a slightly bigger smile on my face.

A quick note about the rayon: I'm gearing up to offer all the Skinny Stripe Grid color combos listed in my shop as well as the Bubbles and Wasabi Peas color combos in rayon as well as quilting cotton. At least initially the rayon will be on a custom order basis. If you're interested, email me at malka@stitchindye.com and request swatches of those fabrics. 

Champagne Bubbles for Everyone!

Maybe not exactly champagne. Especially because (A) these fabrics are not created in the Champagne region of France and (B) this is fabric. 

If you ignore those two minor facts, then you can help me and Lawrence Welk (remember Lawrence?) introduce my newest pattern, Bubbles.

Available in three different bundles, neutral, warm, and cool, as well as a build-your-own fat quarter or half yard bundle, these fabrics, like all my prints, are hand stamped and vat dyed to achieve that hand made intensity of color.

Warm bundle features shades of orange, red, pomegranate, and fuchsia.

The cool bundle includes turquoise, grass green, grey, and indigo.

Shades of ecru, amber, and marigold make the neutral bundle great blenders.

This design represents a bit of a change for me. Lately, I've experimented with varying the stamping quality across the fabric surface so that, although made with the same stamping tool and at regular intervals, the design seems to fade in and out.

Some of the circles are super crisp and dark while others are a lot more wispy. Because of the nature of the stamping process, the variety of circles and their placement changes for each length of fabric that's created.

Currently this pattern is available in fat quarter and half yard bundles, but look for it in single and multi yard increments as well as on-demand on rayon for those of you who's interest runs more to apparel than patchwork.

Makes for a super-cute dress, wouldn't you agree?

The LOVE frock...and friend

Confession: This dress is not totally new. It was made in July (of 2016), but I've already worn it several times. 

What is new about it is that it's made in a new fiber for me, rayon. 

I've dyed all manner of cotton, but lately I've been experimenting with patterning and dyeing rayon with an eye toward using it for garments. 

The LOVE frock is my first attempt and, yay, first success.

The dress pattern is for Lotta Jansdotter's book, Everyday Style. I've waxed semi-poetic here about how much I love this book. This particular pattern is the Esme, just like my previously featured ombre dyed top. I modified the tunic length a bit to add belt loops and a belt, included patch pockets, and adjusted the seam allowances to get a closer fit.

I tested my adjustments on another hand dyed version first, this time in a much-loved cotton lawn.

The colors are a little off here because the dress is patterned in shades of orange and raspberry, not brown. 

Considering the temperatures lately, both these dresses are ideal for the hot weather, but the rayon version feels particularly wonderful. It drapes so beautifully and feels so light, I can almost forget that the humidity is making it stick to my skin.

I'm so excited about the possibilities of patterning and sewing with this rayon that I already have a second length of fabric, patterned in a new pattern waiting to be cut and sewn.

Also, I'm going to start offering this rayon in limited patterns in my store starting in September, but more about that in another post.

For now, I'll just repeat how much LOVE I'm feeling for this fabric and the finished dress.

Next Quilt :: Done

Everyday I send myself an email with that day's to-do list. As pathetic as this may sound, I really enjoy stopping periodically to mark things, in all caps, as DONE. 

Well, this quilt is DONE. It's quilted and bound. Technically, I'm not done with it because I've got a pattern to write and real photographs to take or have taken and then editing and....But, this part is done.

I'll have to note that on my list.

A Week of Finishes:: Ombre Dyed Top

Seems a little presumptuous to title this post "A Week of Finishes" when, hey, it's Tuesday. But, as I pointed out to someone who suggested that I should start a podcast, there are only 24 hours in the day. So, despite being a day late(but not a dollar short, though that little quip has nothing to do with my point), I do have a series of finishes to show off here this week.

Today's is this ombre dyed top, which I tried, I really tried to take pictures of myself wearing. 

Lack of selfie success aside, I love, love , love this top.

The inspiration came from the curtains in my sewing studio. I made them and hung them, so I'm not quite sure why it took so long for me to really "notice" them, but, the other day I was looking at them and thinking they would make great fabric for clothing. The curtains are also ombre dyed in shades of pale blue and indigo and it took a fair amount of self control to stop myself from having a Scarlett O'Hara moment and ripping them down to sew with.

I reminded myself that I had a dye studio in my garage and there had plenty of un-dyed fabric eagerly waiting transformation. 

I made this instead:

The base fabric is a super soft cotton lawn and it's perfect for crafting all manner of clothing.

The pattern for the top came from Lotta Jansdotter's newest book, Everyday Style: Key Pieces to Sew+ Accessories, Styling, and Inspiration.

Sidenote: I love this book. It delivers exactly what the title advertises. I've made 3 garments from the book including the top pictured and, though I'm often reluctant to craft what I would term Japanese-inspired clothes because they often seem baggy and intended to hide rather than flatter, I find her designs to be casual and fun and just a bit more fitted. That and her book is filled with inspirational images of the clothes as modeled by her friends and family and in inspiring, but approachable locales. 

I chose the Esme Top as the pattern for my hand dyed cotton and knew I would cut the fabric so the top ran darker to lighter from bottom to top. I also selected the cap-sleeve option as, (A) This is Texas and it's July and (B) I only need to trace and cut 2 pattern pieces. As with most facings, I didn't create the traditional facing called for in the instructions, but used bias binding, which I always make myself (personally cannot think of anything less worth spending money on than store-bought bias binding)

I'm not the type to make spreadsheets documenting this type of information, though I live with someone who is, but I can say with some certainty that this is the fastest pattern I've ever sewn.

Next up for me in from this book? 

I'm patterning more cotton lawn yardage (not as we speak because I'm busy typing) in my signature wax-resist technique to create an Esme tunic. I think I'll modify that a bit including adding belt loops and a thin matching tie as well a slit opening around the neckline.

But that won't be the next finish featured here. You'll have to check back to see what is.

Next up for the Next Quilt

Simple really is best. 

I finished this queen-sized quilt top in a little over a week and am slated to take it to the longarmer tomorrow. 

As I hinted in my previous post about this design, I'm not done crafting with the 4 rolls purchased for the original top.

Though still very much a WIP, this design, along with the bed-sized version will be included in a single pattern zine along with a few extras. My plan for this is different from most and also a work in progress, but I'm very excited about this direction.

Also, for those not interested in the scale or color ways pictured so far, look for the next version of the Next quilts in these colors:

I'm thinking twin-sized this time. 

They go together so quickly and are such fun to watch as they emerge, row by row, that another sort-of big quilt is something to look forward to.

Stay tuned here an on instagram to see the latest.