Blue Nickel Studios

admin July 18th, 2014

And here we are at Day Five of the Week of Happy! Today I wanted to just kinda celebrate my favorite kind of “solid” or “non-solid-solid” as it were. True these are mostly prints, but compared to other prints I use, they are very calm and settling. Particularly Violet Craft’s little birds....I just LOVE these.  All of these fabrics are from Michael Miller and the little birds on the right are Violet’s design. The prints above the tiny houndstooth and the large houndstooth on the left are from Patty Sloniger’s line, Emma’s Garden.

And of course more treat bags ...... I made 100 of these suckers…...I wanted to make sure that all of my students at Quilters Affair got a little treat….a thank you from me for selecting my classes.

So totally digging this tiny houndstooth as a basic!!

So here’s the surprise package (not so much of a surprise now!) that I have been referring to all week as the second prize in the Week of Happy. A whole bunch of stuff from Spring Quilt Market and a few things from the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show in Sisters, Oregon.  So comment about what makes you happy on every day of the Week of Happy and some time on this coming Monday morning,  I will pull two winners from all of  the comments.  One winner for this package and one winner for the Chronicle Books package (read about that prize on Day One of Happy).

And again, I have been loving hearing what is making you Happy this week….Helps me to maintain a bit of Happy in my life too!!

Keep Sewing, Keep HAPPY!

Scott

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admin July 17th, 2014

Welcome to Day Four of the Week of Happy. If you are just hitting the Blue Nickel this week, then you need to check out this post to see what’s going on, but if you have been here all week, then you know the score.  It’s all about Happy around here this week.

When I was passing by the Dear Stella booth at Quilt Market last spring, I saw Woodwinked all lined up in a row of pillows, and I totally fell in love with the deer in this line (yes, I know I lamented the deer that frequent my yard in yesterday’s post) and again I thought it was so pretty. I commented to the gals sitting there about how terrific it was and they gave me a fat quarter pack to play with!  I hadn’t noticed the owls or the mushrooms at first, but discovered them in the mix. Too cool!

So I made stuff with it even! Here’s another of those cool little wallets designed by Valori.

And more of those little treat bags designed by Monica.

Since I only have Fat Quarters of this line, I will be working them in with other prints down the road, and I am sure they will play together very nicely.

So to win either Monday’s Chronicle Book prize or my surprise pile-up from tomorrow’s post, simply comment here about something or someone or some event that makes or will make or has made you happy lately. And to have more chances, comment on each and every Week of Happy post this week….including tomorrow’s.  It’s been super uplifting to me to hear all of your Happiness spilling over. If you are feeling a little worn down this week, read the comments. There is a lot of happy to be found out there.

Keep Sewing, Keep Happy!

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admin July 16th, 2014

I have been so enjoying everyone’s “Happy” comments! Keep them coming! They make my day, and in this crazy world we live in, a little bit of Happy is very good to have isn’t it?

Today’s Day on the Happy Train features Rustique by Emily Herrick. I was delighted with a lunch date at Spring Market with Emily and the equally fun Frances Newcombe, and I sure can tell you they are both the greatest company!

So here is Rustique!  I love the deer in this line….Much more than I loath the deer that try to destroy most everything I try to plant. They are like locusts around here…well, not quite, but it seems that way.

Anyway, Emily’s deer are marvelous, and the perfect size for more of these little treat bags….I tell you I am addicted to making those!

Here’s a little more Happy for you! I can’t love this song enough!!

Look at that little blue deer….perfect! and BLUE too!  

Also totally digging that Fuchsia, Orange, White and Black plaid too!!

There are some great “blenders” that I love using in place of solids too!

So Day Three….If you have been here for the other posts, you know what to do.  If it’s your first day in the week of Happy, here’s the score: Leave a comment about what makes you Happy on today’s post as well as all of the Days of  Happy Week this week. Two prizes are being awarded. The first prize is shown on Day One and is from Chronicle Books. The second prize will be revealed Day Five and will be an assortment of things that I picked up at Spring Market plus a few cleaning out items from my studio.

Keep Sewing, Keep Happy!

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admin July 15th, 2014

Did you see yesterday’s post? It was the first Day of my Week of Happy series where I shared about my friend Amy Butler’s latest line Hapi.

Today’s post features a good friend of  Amy’s and mine, Valori Wells Kennedy, with whom I also just spent a magical week with (along with a whole lot of other incredible students and teachers!) in Sisters, Oregon. The fabric line is Quill and it came out a few months ago…Newer than Amy’s Hapi, but not as new as Valori’s NEWEST line Ashton Road.

Anyhow….I am working on a really fun project that is either going to go in a magazine OR become a Blue Nickel Studios pattern.  So I can’t show you that project yet, but I can show you the fabric.

And I can show you more of those little treat bags that I am so enamored with …..

Also, I made some of these little wallets that Valori designed out of Quill. Very fun project….

So that’s it for today’s Happy post….remember to make a comment about what makes you happy on one or all of the Happy posts this week to win that nice prize from Chronicle Books that I talked about in yesterday’s post.  Commenting on each day’s post DOES better your chances to win, so it’s worth it. Plus you have to think up a different reason to be Happy each day….Win, win, right?

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admin July 14th, 2014

So I am just back from Sisters, Oregon and my second season there as a teacher at the week long event called Quilters Affair. I can only say it was just as Awesome again this year as when I went in 2012.  I hope you can come out next Summer in 2015.  It is the show’s 40th anniversary and I am sure it will  be spectacular!  And come take a class from me and some of the other incredible teachers there!

I have more to share about that but, for today, I wanted to share this lovely line that is hopefully still in stores from my friend Amy Butler. I have been meaning to get this in a post for MONTHS as I have a cool giveaway going along with it.

So to start out the Week of Happy, I wanted to start with Amy Butler’s line Hapi. This line was inspired by her trip to Egypt a few years back and all of the color and pattern she soaked up there.

If you have been following me for awhile, you know that I have been making a lot of these little totes.

I had a great time giving them (stuffed with goodies) to all of my students at Quilters Affair.  Cause I like giving stuff away…...

And now to the fun part….Chronicle Books loves giving away stuff too….so they are going to give the following items to one lucky commentor this week.  If you comment on this post or any of the next 4 days of Happy you will be entered in the drawing for a package of Amy Butler Eco-Stationery goods from Chronicle including:

A four pack of little journal books (these are a great, handy size—I am going to re-write all my passwords in one  of them),

A paper mouse pad with beautiful Amy Butler prints and room for notes on the bottom,

and a gorgeous box of Notecards for those occasions that emails really aren’t the way to go.

ALSO Chronicle is giving away Amy’s Stencil book.  This book is really cool,  full of ideas and the stencils are on nice stiff, slick card stock, so they are great for stenciling.  I can’t wait to use it in a couple areas in our house. If I ever get to that, I will show you what I came up with!

So every day this week, comment on all five of the Happy Posts. I will draw a name from ALL of the comments between now and then. And then on Friday to wrap up the Week of Happy, I have another prize – my loot from Spring Quilt Market.  On each day simply tell me something that makes you happy, or made you happy that day.
Ready, set…..Comment!

Cheers,

Keep Sewing, Keep Happy!

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admin June 23rd, 2014

And It’s June already! For me that means #2 Son just graduated from High School…..the years have gone by so quickly, I can scarcely believe it!

So since it’s June, we have another Aurifil DOM to share! And that Designer is Heidi Pridemore.  Very whimsical designs as obviously indicated by her company name.  Be sure to read Pat Sloan’s interview with Heidi here.

Her block is called Chain Links. It’s pretty fun, and it has a great second design going on when you make multiple blocks and work them together (I always love that!).  If you check out the interview link above, you will find the
“story” behind Heidi’s block and how they look laid out as a group.

Here’s my version of Chain Links in the Liberty prints and more Wish by Valori Wells.

Make your version of this block with these directions. Then make sure to post a photo of your block here to be eligible for the monthly drawing of a BIG Box of Aurifil Threads ($120 value!)

And here’s the Tip of the Month from Natalia Bonner.

I took a quick photo of my versions of the first six blocks in the grass this morning…not the best light…should have waited just a little bit longer…

I think that for my next few blocks, I need to use some more of the medium and darker prints.  What do you think?

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admin June 12th, 2014

Happy to say that the wonderful Melanie Testa has a new line of fabric, Meadowlark, her first ever with Windham fabrics.

I first met Melanie Testa in person at Quilt Market last fall in Houston at the Generation Q booth. I had known her on Facebook, but it was one of those Facebook “industry” friends who you know …but mostly because you like the same things, and you don’t necessarily know them all that well. I knew her name from the many issues of Quilting Arts we used to get when Linda was more into that sort of thing.  I have always considered Melanie sort of  “famous” in the quilt world….at least the art quilt world.  It was so nice to meet in person. Well that’s when she told me she had this line coming out. So I was excited to finally see it.  There are so many computer generated designs out there, it is nice to see this one that comes straight from the art.

And then Melanie asked me to be part of the blog hop.  So happy to be a part of this hop. I haven’t had much chance to play with the fabric yet, so you will see more projects with this line worked into it, but for now, I bring you more of Monica’s bags.

I also made this little wallet designed by my friend Valori. It took what seemed forever to get it out the little hole you have to turn it out from. I thought I was never going to get it out. But it came out pretty good.

I still haven’t top-stitched it yet, but I think these would make nice little presents…Go get your pattern today (the pattern is super cheap!!), and tell them Scott at the Blue Nickel sent ya!

Here’s a fun video that Melanie made at Market with everybody getting to use the dye and stamps she used for this line of fabric.

 

Melanie even let me keep my block of fabric while I was at Market:

To win your very own Meadowlark Stack of 10″ squares  just leave a comment here by (noon PST) JUNE 15, 2014.

Melly is also giving away 3 copies of her fabulous book “Dreaming from the Journal Page”, for even more inspiration.

 One will be given away on her blog and

the other two will be given away at the end of the Blog Hop. You have to leave a post here to have a chance to win.

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admin June 9th, 2014

So June is here…..and a flood of stuff will be showing up here on the blog.  I will be having a couple of giveaways, telling you about my first set of patterns finally up for sale on my new Etsy shop,  new books by friends, a whole bunch of  mostly) new lines of fabrics by some very dear friends of mine and a whole lot more.

So here’s the first of that buncha buncha fabric love!  Today I am sharing Beauty Queen by the lovely Jennifer Paganelli!

True to her normal form Jennifer rocks the Caribbean colors in a fun, floral way.

And I of course made more of Monica’s treat bags.....They are always handy to have on hand!

Or Tusk…..as the case may be….

I knew this Pink Elephant table would come in handy for photo-shoots! (Goodwill—$14.99!)

So that’s it for today’s post. See you soon (maybe even tomorrow?) for some more show and tell!

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admin June 1st, 2014

It’s May 32nd today, right? I need an extra day in May…. seriously….okay Seriously, I needed another TWO MONTHS this spring, but alas, time marches steadily forward, so yes, this May Designer of the Month post for Aurifil is late…as it is technically June (although if you are as behind as I am and wish it to be May 32nd, I will happily be delusional with you!).

So here is the May Designer of the Month; the DELIGHTFUL and ALWAYS  Sweetest woman on the planet, Amy Smart....at least the Amy Smart I meet at Market every time (her kids may not think that when they are misbehaving,  but I have no idea…..she’s probably just as sweet then too!).  I just know that every time I talk with Amy Smart at Quilt Market, she is just adorable and amiable and always flashes that sweet smile of hers.  You can read more about her in Pat Sloan’s interview with Amy here.

Amy’s Block of the month is this simple, yet very nicely graphic, Nine Patch on Point.  Here is the PDF pattern.

And here is my version done up in the Liberty Prints I have been using along with more Wish Voile from my dear friend Valori Wells.  Nice and busily patterned….just the way I like ‘em!

So remember you can WIN a big box of Pat’s Aurifil thread ($120 value) just by making this block and posting it here.  Every Month they RANDOMLY draw a name, so even though I got my post up in the month that is technically NOT May,  you could win from the drawing in June.  And if I actually get the June Block up in June, you could get two chances in the bucket….In theory at least.

And here is Machine Quilting Tip#5 from the talented Natalia Bonner of Piece N Quilt Fame.

So that’s it for now. I will be bringing a lot of posts later this month AFTER I get the six patterns written up that NEED to get done right away.  Three NEED to be done for my very patient students at Quilters’ Affair in July, and one will be my American Made Brand quilt from Quilt Market. Those four will be for sale along with Flame On! my very first pattern that is for sale now in my new Etsy Shop and two that I made for Coats & Clark will be free on the Coats website.  Stay tuned.

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admin May 21st, 2014

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So I just got back from  Quilt Market in Pittsburgh…..I am still finding photos I took to put up on  Instagram so be sure to follow me there  as bluenickelstudios. It was crazy fun, and I have a ton to share (and even a giveaway!) but for today, I wanted to share about my Gypsy River Camp quilt that was published in the March April issue of Generation Q.  I know, I work there, but I never got a post up about this issue because I was working so fervently on three (wait, four) different Quilt Market projects as well as the Day Job and the Gen Q stuff.

The above and below picture are how the quilt appeared in the magazine.

Below is my first version of it.  I made this one for the Birch booth at Quilt Market a few years back, but never patterned it.

And here is the back with the front shining through it. .....and one of the cats, Trinket, I think.  (she looks a LOT like Broba, so I can’t quite tell from this photo)

You can still get a copy of the issue that quilt is in here. Find the March April issue with the adorable Sara Lawson on the cover and click to purchase.

And now for the winner of the table runner from this post........drumroll please…..

Rose Smith who wrote:

My favourite fruit is Mango. Mmm!! I enjoy it as a fresh fruit, or as a flavouring in sorbets, ice-cream, juice, anything really. It’s delish!

As I wrap this post up, I just realized that although there were two “subjects” to share, they both involved Sara Lawson to a degree….Serendipity falls into play again.

Happy Sewing peeps! I am going back to massive pattern writing and editing for my students who are taking my classes this summer at Sisters.  I am really, really behind on that road, and I am so grateful for the patience of those students have been super eager and waiting for me to catch up. The patterns will be available for sale to all soon.

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