Mail Mania

I went to the mail box, and what did I find?  My new issue of American Patchwork and Quilting has arrived!  Early, even.  I have been waiting for this.

 It's the April 2011 issue (on newsstands Feb 1) and I know what is inside!  At least I know part of it.

 There it is.  Around the Town by Jill Finley of Jillily Studio.  Right there on page 57.

I haven't got the quilt back from the editors at APQ yet, but when I do, I will post some close-ups of the quilting and details.  Actually, there are several photos in the magazine, too.  My machine quilter (Tori) did a wonderful job, and I would like you to see it.

I better go put everything away--two posts in one day is probably a record!

POSH PATTERN PROBLEM

NOTICE FOR THOSE WHO PURCHASED

"POSH PORTFOLIO"

AT ROAD TO CALIFORNIA

We had a few patterns that were printed wrong!  Some of the patterns were missing all of the even pages.  So check your pattern, and if you have only pages 1, 3, 5, and 7, we need to fix that!
Send me an email or give me a call, I will email the pattern to you.  I am SO SORRY!

This was one of our best selling patterns--because it is so fun!  So when you get your project done, please send me a photo because I would like to show it on my blog.

Back to Basics

I'm back from California and now there are tons of orders to fill.  We had a great time, and it was so fun to rub shoulders with all those quilters!  I met some great people, some I knew before, and some new ones.  My sister-in-law, (and long-arm quilter) Tori and her friend Judy came to help me in my booth.  I was so glad they were there!  I was swamped!  I could not have done it without their help.

The booth before the show opened

I never know how busy these shows are going to be, so it is hard to judge how many kits to cut and patterns to take!  So if you were there and I was out of kits (after the first day) I can cut you one and send it.  You can order it on my website, or if you don't see what you want there, just send me an email and I will get it out to you.   (jill@jillilystudio.com)

I also have plenty of Thistledown fabric left, if you need to order some.  I don't have it listed as separate pieces on my website, but I can cut you any size you need if you just send an email or call me.
 (801) 234-9884.

Thistledown

My camera broke and I took some photos with my phone, but they are sooooo blurry!  I will show you a few anyway because I don't have anything else, and I want to show you how much fun Road to California was.  Please ignore the blurries:

Raquel from Stars and Scraps--she sells my glue and it was so nice to see her again!

 Raquel's booth was just a row away from mine, but I hardly got to see her because we were both so busy.  Her booth won BEST BOOTH, so you know it was really cute!

Dana with some customers in her booth.  She is a fellow Henry Glass designer!

 Lazy Daisy Cottage is in St. George, Utah.  What a cute little shop, and it looks like she brought the whole store with her!  Her booth was a hoppin' place.

In my booth

Above you will see me with my new friend Jana and my old friend Barbara from Quilt Soup.  (Sorry, Barbara, I didn't mean that YOU are old, just our friendship!  We have been hanging around doing this quilt thing together for years!)  We both design for Henry Glass fabrics, and we both have books out with Kansas City Star.   

I wish I had some pics of my good helpers, Judy and Tori, but I guess I will have to wait to see if Tori posts some on her blog!  (I think I need a new camera!)

One of the big hits in my booth was my fabric.  Elizabeth's Letters was in high demand and I don't really have too much left.  It is in quilt stores now, so go get some before it is GONE!  I have a quilt coming out in just a few days in American Patchwork and Quilting, so I have to save the fabric I have to fill orders for that kit.  Watch for it to hit newsstands on Feb 1.  The quilt is called "Around the Town."  I am  tempted to give you a peek:

That great quilting was done by Tori of That's So Quilt.  I know you can't see it very well here, but soon we will see it in print!

Road To...

First of all I need to announce the winner of the little quiz last week.
Marian, who posted on 1/12 at 6:26 am--YOU ARE THE WINNER.
Send me an email with a mailing address and I will send you some of these delicious fat quarters!
The correct answer was:  the cream background, the dark blue and med. blue in the flower applique, and the darkest green, which WAS from the Thistledown line, and some of you got that right, too!

Here's a whole bunch of fats bundled up to go to the Road To California Quilt conference.  I will be there in just a few days--with tons of great stuff to display and sell in my booth.

Elizabeth's Letters fat quarter Bundles

 I will also be giving FREE applique demos in my booth every day. Last year we had so much fun and met so many great quilters.  I really hope they will be back to see me again this year.  My booth is in a different room this year, so be sure to come find me!  If you are one of my blog readers and come see me in my booth, mention the password (clock) and I will give you 10% off on any patterns or kits!
Last time I tried this, I only had ONE winner.  I hope this time I have waaay more!
I have been cutting kits and fabric bundles for DAYS, and I have many more to cut and all kinds of great quilty stuff to get ready.  I am looking forward to seeing all my quilting friends, and sharing some ideas with them.

Meadow quilt kit

The quilt conference is at the Ontario, CA convention center, and runs Thursday through Sunday.  Visit the link above for details and times.  I leave on Tuesday, so I probably won't be able to post until I get back home, but I will have lots of inspirational pictures to share with you so be sure to check back!
See you in the sunshine!

"One of these fabrics is not like the other..." (with music in the background)

 I finally got the boxes opened, and found a place on my shelf for a few bolts.   It has taken me so long because I just really don't have any more room in my little sewing space. 

 Fabric bolts are everywhere.  Under the cutting table, on top of the cutting table, inside the red cabinet, against the wall, under the design wall, and stacked on top of cupboards.  I guess I need to start SELLING!

These extra bolts are for quilt kits being offered in the next American Patchwork magazine.  They have re-named that quilt "Around The Town," previously known to my readers as "Blackberry Village."
I haven't got the quilt back from APQ yet, but when it comes, I will show you some pics.

I did a quilt right before Market called "Meadow."  I don't think I have shown you before, because it wasn't done until I got to Houston, and I have been so busy ever since.  So here is a look at what I made using just the blues and greens from the "Elizabeth's Letters" line.

 You can see the letter fabric better in this picture.  I love that houndstooth pattern, too.  So versatile, and great for applique. 

 In this photo you will notice a few fabrics that are not in the "Letters" line.  As you know, I think it is really hard to use only the fabrics from one line in a project.  Adding a little here and there from my cupboard or the quilt shop just helps to add dimension and more interest.  I find if you use only one line, the quilt tends to look 'flat.'  Not always, but usually.  (Plus, I could get bored with just one line!)

So if you can tell me which fabrics are NOT from the Elizabeth's Letter's line, you could win some fat quarters!  Make a comment and tell me which ones!  I will pick a winner.  I'll give you until Friday, 1/14/11 at noon.  Ready, set, go!

The Letters are Here!

Look what was on my front porch yesterday!

 Six boxed of Letters.  See, I peeked:

I have been waiting and talking about this line for so long that it seems like I have already had all this fabric, and used it up!  But this is the first look I have at actual BOLTS of fabric.  I guess it has started arriving in the stores as well because I had a call today from a shop in Maryland needing to order patterns to go in their kits.  What fun!  It is still shocking to me to go into a store and see MY designs sitting right there on their shelves.  I have to pinch myself.

As  you know, this line is particularly special to me because it features the letter from my Great Grandmother to my Grandmother.  I bet she had no idea when she penned that note in 1898 that it would someday go around the world and be seen and admired by so many women! Just in case you want to see the original letter, I am copying a previous post I wrote about the line:

Posted by Jillily Studio at 4:33:00 PM

I was just working on my new fabric line which will come out next spring.  I am using a wonderful hand written letter from my Great-Grandmother to my grandmother as one of the design elements.  It was a farewell letter written to her daughter when she left Switzerland to immigrate to America  at age 18.  It is a sweet tender letter, and the penmanship is beautiful.  Anyway, I was thinking about how we don’t write anything anymore.  In just a few generations that has basically been lost.  I did save one note my mom wrote to me when I was a little girl...

“Dear Miss Jill, When I send word for you to come home, young lady, I mean it....”

It was hand delivered to me by my younger brother while I was playing in the neighbor’s  yard.  Somehow I don’t think it rises to the level of a family heirloom.  

Things I write to my kids are usually done on a white board or on the back of an envelope as I run out the door.  Part of it is that I am not sure that I want anything that I might write down saved for generations to come.  It is a little intimidating.  Maybe that is why I have a hard time writing in a journal.  (I say as I post this blog for the whole world to see...)

Sorry for repeating that but I have a lot of new readers, so they might not know the story behind this fabric line.

Anyway, I will post more photos when I get these boxes opened up and find a place for all of that fabric.  My sewing room will have to be REORGANIZED!

INSIDE OUT

Looks cold, doesn't it?  The wind around here is so strong that it has blown away a lot of the snow.    These mountains always look so silent when they are covered with snow.  It is a good day to stay in my sewing room.

 Early Sunday morning when I drove my honey to the airport, the temperature was 1.  We have dipped below zero a few times this year, but I have blissfully been inside a nice warm house, so that's OK.  I think we are going to see some warming this week, anyway.  We will be up in the high twenties!

OK, on to the good stuff.  Sewing and fabric and such.
This is my good example of what not to do.  I didn't really like the fabric I had chosen to put in those places, but I thought,
"It will be fine. When I get it all together, I will like it better."

But, alas, not so.  It was really bugging me, so before I got any farther, I had to rip it out.  Now that is going to be fun to replace!  Twenty little pieces, less than an inch.  WHY didn't I listen to my heart when I first made the little blocks?  Or even when I was cutting out that fabric?  I had a feeling that it wouldn't work.

I have a little wall hanging that I made years ago.  It has one piece of fabric in it that I do NOT like.  I didn't like it when I pieced it, but everyone said it was "needed in the quilt."  Now every time I see it, my eye goes right to the piece I didn't like.  I have thought about ripping it out now (too hard) or appliqueing over it, (too much work), or painting/dying it (ridiculous), but I guess it will stay forever.  A reminder to DO WHAT YOU LIKE!

So much for reminders. . . I did it again.