Blue Nickel Studios

240: Quilt-a-Long

admin August 1st, 2010

you know I should have mentioned this a long time ago, but quite awhile back, Konda of MooseQuilts asked for peeps to sign up for her Jelly Roll Sampler Quilt-a-Long, and I made it aboard the Jelly Roll train. But I was the last block on the journey, and well….all my other projects “helped” me forget about it…..But the last block is showing on Konda’s blog this coming week, because I got it done just in time… Here are the three versions I did up for the Sampler Group.

I had so much fun doing these actually, that I came up with 3 different layouts in 3 different color schemes within 2 days, and I have decided that they will be among my first PDF patterns to come up for sale in online shops this fall/winter….all three layouts in one pattern, pretty good deal, yes??

So part of the deal is that there are prizes involved with this Quilt-a-long, and Konda is offering prizes over at her site, and I am offering this prize of a Hello Betty Jelly Roll in the same colors as the middle picture.

Just drop a comment here and tell me what your favorite new fabrics or patterns (or whatever quilty thing you love) are this year. I will do a drawing on the 10th of August from all the comments.

Thanks for stopping by, and don’t forget the Name the Prop Girl Contest here....Contest entries will be closed on the 5th of August Midnight Pacific Time. Great prizes to be had on that entry as well!!

231: Random Rainbows….

admin June 23rd, 2010

Okay to start with….yes I am very “kinetic”.....that is my PC term for my sporatic flow of information, blather, and prizewinning packs (which is to say they are still waiting by my desk to be mailed in the mail…) And no, I haven’t drawn for the Anna Maria packs yet….but probably will later today which mean that post should be following…

But this post does relate to the Delightful Mrs. Horner in some way. I just wanted to quickly share these blocks that I made for Anna’s Rainbow Around the Block project. (and any of you who keep a blog know that “quickly” share is a joke figure of speech…taking pictures, downloading pictures, readusting and cropping pictures never goes quickly enough, but posts without pix=boring in my book)

I had a great time playing with fabric on these blocks with absolutely no concern for accuracy or anything….just fun…and going to a great cause too…

I dunno about you, but I just don’t give enough back to the world I think…..

And it is such a beautiful world to not give back too….

Someone had to do it….

maybe you can make some blocks too…

Just follow the link for more info…

And have a great day playing for a great cause….

230: Winners’ Circle…

admin June 17th, 2010

Alrighty then, sorry it has taken me so long to get back here…my DayJob has been keeping me pretty wiped by the time I get home, plus I have a bunch of studio stuff I am trying to work on…all at the same time…

Note: If these project were dishes I was juggling….we’d be eating on paper plates…..

Anyway….I could NOT just pick one entry for the bird stories I requested here ......and even with 4 prizes-winners that I eventually picked….there were still other wonderful little anecdotes and tales…and I truly loved reading them all…aren’t memories and stories fun??

So without further ado…...

here are the winners:

For the Main Prize…..Kelly Oletzke who talked about her Father-in-law with such love, I have re-read it a couple times, and it just warms my heart so very much….thank you for the loving picture of a great man and his love for birds.

Three runner up prizes are going to the following ladies whose entries also caught my eye…...

Ginawho also made me very sad with her story of when she was little coming to terms with the inescapability of death when she watched a bird die from being hit by her dad’s car…..I can just picture the sobbing and I really felt bad for you Gina!!

Denise who made me totally laugh out loud when she told of a “two-liner” she had heard about a mom’s love/hate relationship with birds….complete with a Ba-dum-dum for effect….

And lastly one of John’s Fly Girls whom I met at Market…. Kaye Prince shared some a beautiful poem by Emily Dickinson about a little bird…well Kaye being a librarian (if I am remembering correctly) must have remembered I was an English major in college and got me hooked in with the poetry (and no, I don’t really know or care too much if it was supposed to be whom or who back there in that earlier sentence….I am not a copy editor!)

SO Kelly, Gina, Denise, and Kaye, please email me your snail mail addresses (to bluenickel5 (@) earthlink (dot) net…....and I will eventually get your prizes out of here into the postal system on their way to you!! (and no, the last batch of prizes haven’t left here yet, but they are almost ready…they are in envelopes with addresses…but I want to add a note to each and whatever other little extras I can…I tend to throw little odd things in to make them not run of the mill….)

AND just so you know, I do have two more entries coming up regarding Quilt Market, then we will be back to a more of the visual variety-pack from the world that inspires my Blue Nickel Studio Mindset. And since I don’t really want to leave you with another non-pictorial post….here is a little bit of inspiration from the studio and grounds to remind you that there is more to me than just fabric…..Not much more, but there is some….....

ALSO don’t forget….we need some more comments here to get me drawing for those great little Anna Maria prize packs….

Later, peeps,

Scott

228: Final Quilt Market post…maybe

admin June 7th, 2010

Hey you all! thanks for all the great comments here lately….it is good to know that I am not completely writing to the wind…. I think I actually do have some more Quilt Market posts to do…but I really needed to get things caught up around here….So I posting this post tonight and with it another set of prizes. And while I am typing this I am printing out all the comments from the last 3 or so posts that had prized attached and will be announcing them tomorrow or Wednesday in another post. I don’t really have a lot of time tonite to post either, but I wanted to share with you some more highlights from Market…

First on the list are the Westminter Laminates….these are just incredible. When I heard about them, I definitely thought of thick bulky oilcloth….These are NOT that material!! They are very pliable and sewable it seems…

And to prove it…Look at this!! Ruffles! out of Laminate! Can you believe it? I couldn’t ..even a rosette. Everyone MUST try this now!! Really….

Back over at the Seven Seas booth where all the fine Japanese Imports were….were these cool little kits….aren’t they the yummiest assortment??

And little wind up felties…too cool!

And Heather Ross’s newest Line with Kokka….Far Far Away II....

But the REAL highlight for me was meeting and chatting numerous times with Anna Maria Horner....

This lady TOTALLY amazes me. She designed all these fabric and these projects….and she has 6 KIDS!! From 18 to 1! AND she is as sweet and genuine and thoughtful as she seems in her blog. I would have to say that her blog is my very favorite for the way she mixes family and design and pain and laughter. My heart is often stirred by her musings on parenthood. It is such a wonderful and difficult and ultimately fulfilling and draining life work…and Anna Maria captures it all …..surrounding it with beauty as she goes….including her now famous Quilt Market Spring ‘10 shoes!

Here she is smiling on the last day just as much as the first day!!

Yeah, I really enjoyed meeting her here at Market. My first quilt for Free Spirit was for her Good Folks line, and then I did a Flannel Little Folks quilt last year for Free Spirit too. I have emailed her on numerous occasions, and generally made a pest of myself…and she was still nice to me here in Minneapolis!!

And then there were her equally charming and beautiful model/assistants…. Allie with her Incredible Red Locks and Charming Smile…

And Alexia with her Stunning Snow White features and Gentle Grace….

One more thing before I go to the prizes for this blog post. Anna Maria lives in Nashville, and saw many of her neighbors lose much during the flooding they had there this Spring. So she has this going on to help…I will talk more about it later, as I am psyched to help out on this project. But I wanted to make sure you knew about it as well if you felt inclined to help with the effort.

And Anna and I put together these little gifties for 3 lucky winners….A free pattern from her newest book Handmade Beginnings and some of her flannels and prints….and two little notebooks…(the third prize gets a little extra flannel)...

For this project why don’t you tell us all about your first memory of something that someone made for you as a child…not bought in a store, but made by hand or with their hands for you. And when we get somewhere between 30 and 50 entries, I will start drawing names randomly.

And I promise I will get winners of all the previous prizes announced tomorrow evening my time (Pacific) so if you are on the East coast it may be later for you….

Are you still enjoying these market Photos?? I still have an SD card full of Floral pictures from around the Blue Nickel Studios here to share that I took before Market…so eventually you will get to see them too…

Thanks for dropping by the Blue Nickel…..see you soon!

Scott

226: Spring Quilt Market Pt. 2

admin May 31st, 2010

First I want to start out this post by announcing the winner of my first round of prizes from this post AND THE WINNER IS …..

eileensideways who said….

one of the quilt patterns above look like mail slots and the border surrounding looks like ribbon weaving in and out. such talent, such creativity.

Susan (eileensideways) already sent me her mailing address cause I let her know via Twitter that she won. I have another prize to give away on that post but it needs to get up to 50 comments, so if you already commented send someone else, or if you haven’t please do and you can win the second of these two prize packs:

Susan will have coming her way next week, and I would love to send another one away. And don’t forget there is still a different prize to give away at THIS post....LOTS of giveaways here peeps…share the news cause sometimes, there will be a certain number of comments required to give any of it away!

Now on to more quilt market photos….again no particular order on these, and if you are really bored with these, you can scroll down to the end where the prize for this post is waiting.

Patricia Bravo at Art Gallery Fabrics....wonderful stuff! With yummy new things coming up!

A cool runner I saw done up in Moda Odyssea ....wonderful…

Here is Bonnie and Camille’s newest stuff….love the red and aqua combo’s!!

and from Riley Blake Designs:

And then something completely different—— Terrie Mangat and her booth…just love the riot of color here!! super nice lady! I missed the class she had been teaching that I had hoped to get in on, and she gave me the pattern and some hints and a few supplies..I will show you when I make it…it is somewhat of a soft sculpture project….She has another colorful line coming out this fall with Bees!! I love me some bees…especially non-stinging fabricy type bees!

A nice little origami type shirt display of some new Japanese fabrics distributed by Clothworks...

Of course I was delighted to see my quilt so prominently displayed at the Robert Kaufman booth…and I HAD to take a picture, didn’t I?

Okay now for today’s prizes…..yes, I said prizes….I have multiple….

One of these: with surprises inside….

A set of these:

And for you vintage lovers a set of these gems:

So you know the drill by now…comment here on THIS post about whatever you like best on this post….and when I get to 25 comments I will start drawing. for the above prizes…..I have a goal here people…and it really isn’t too big of one I don’t think….cause I just love giving stuff away…and these were all given to me to do just that so they are here for the taking…I mean I could keep them I suppose, but I want to share …..

Don’t forget to keep checking the past couple posts too and the next ones coming up…I have a great little package that Valori Wells gave me, and some Anna Maria gift packs, some other doodads, and even a book giveaway coming up as well…so stay tuned…okay?? And if I am really boring you already PLEASE tell me….I will move on with things here….

I really had a great time at Quilt Market, can you tell….tomorrow I have to go back to the Day Job….sigh…don’t think it will be nearly as thrilling for me…just more of the same…but don’t get me wrong. I am very happy to have a Day Job that can help pay for things for now…these quilting career goals of mine don’t just happen overnight. They take time….thanks for hanging out with me, while things unfold. I really appreciate your visits…..

Much quilting/fabricy love to you,

Scott

222:Rust

admin April 28th, 2010

It has been a busy couple of weeks here as I wrap up a bunch of projects for different fabric houses for Quilt Market. And one quilt for a magazine article this Christmas. I have been enjoying the time in the studio, but not necessarily the pressure to get things done…that pressure is at my Day Job too, and I feel behind almost everywhere I turn. Sometimes I look around me (figuratively speaking here) and I feel like everything is spinning so fast, and I just want to rest a bit, but there is no time for that…..and there should be….

That’s part of what I like about this picture…..

It is a picture of leaves in the bottom of an old hot water heater that has been rusting in our yard for years. I kinda like it as a water feature of sorts and the rust gives it a wonderful lived in look. But just looking at it kinda relaxes me a bit…maybe its the stillness, maybe its the getting lost in the layers of the image…maybe its just the constancy of it being in the same place in the yard for over 10 years now…...I dunno…..

Maybe it is just a rusty picture, but something about it reminds me to stop for awhile and notice details like this wherever I go….and that everything is okay, it will all work out.

That’s it for this post, peeps, I gotta go get some more sewing done….pictures will come eventually!!

221: The Spirit of Easter past….like 2 weeks ago past…

admin April 19th, 2010

just quick pictures….before it is summer and it is really too late….a little bit of spring color, and that’s about it…

Hershey’s, Jelly Beans, Fabric, Linda’s newest little doll, a Puki, Glow in the Dark Zombies, plastic eggs…pretty typical Easter at the Hansen’s house….have a great day!

220:Christmas in April….

admin April 17th, 2010

Okay so the Easter decorations are still out, and there are apple blossoms on the trees up front, but I am working on this:

Okay so does anyone else find this selvedge snippet funny?? I think I must frame this somewhere it makes me laugh so much….but that is probably only funny to textile geeks like me (and you if you think its funny too, I don’t require that you do, just so you know) (oh, and the Robot Cake sketch…that’s for a certain fabric/quilt designer) subtle, huh? This said designer also blogged about the video that has totally captivated me all week….will take a lot to top this...

This Christmas quilt is going to be for a magazine this fall, so I can’t show much more than this on it, but I am thoroughly enjoying these Michael Miller Christmas prints…while I was in the studio today, I thought about this postcard I have from way back in college in the early 80’s….

Its sentiment and statement still crack me up and resonate deep inside my spirit….

And truth be told, I am not just working on the above Christmas quilt, but I also working on this pink/grey/yellow number for Robert Kaufman Fabrics for Quilt Market coming up….you can see bits of it here mixed with the Christmas strips….

and waiting in the wings is this project for Free Spirit…..

okay, so today I am just so swamped I can’t think straight….and yeah, I didn’t throw the links in for the fabric companies…you’re smart, you can go Bing it or Google it or something like that…

I am still getting over the fact that the postcard mentioned above is almost 30 years old….but I am sure in that cases, that I couldn’t have been older than 3 when I picked it up in college….... sigh

Gotta get back to the studio…I am think Deck the Halls music will be in order tonite….

maybe next post, I will get the Easter pictures posted that are sitting on my desktop….maybe…

Keep Happy Peeps, Keep Sewing!!

Scott (that’s me!)

219: Man-quilters Unite!

admin April 15th, 2010

So, I am really, really late at posting about the latest Doll Quilt Swap 8 I like these swaps because they are total ”playtime” for me, and if I want to do some experimenting, they are fun to share…so This time our swap”mama” (Kimmie) as she was called, threw the only three guys in the swap all together. I gave to Ryan, Ryan gave to John, and John gave to me. Pretty fun to see how each of us went about “mod” fabrics differently. This is what I sent to Ryan…

Here is the back plus a little bundle of goodies I sent along for fun…

And then here is the front of the quilt I sent Ryan. I told Ryan that he had better appreciate the red Wonderland Scissor fabric from Moda...cause it was the first time I used it, and I TOTALLY LOVE print!! It was very hard to part with…what? like you don’t understand that or something? Somewhere around here, I have this beautiful sage reproduction fabric that I still totally love from about 12 years ago…..even though I have gone “brighter” these days, I still adore that fabric….whenever I find it again, I can tell you it will delight me….

So, then John sent this quilt to me! I was so happy to have him be my swap partner, because I have loved his choices in fabrics for some time now..

and I like that he left those wide linen stripes plain…I have plans to add vintage and new buttons and beads in that space…

John also sent a little goodie pack with his quilt—A Charley Harper calendar and the coolest pencil ever….

see what I mean about the pencil?? THANKS SO MUCH for this cool touch, Johnny Q!!

and this fabric in the top corner..I think it is from Spoonflower, but I am not sure…maybe John will drop a comment and tell us about it in there….

Well that’s it for now…I still have a couple pictures from Easter to post, and an entry about my “little” 17 year old son’s quiet-at-home-with-a-mega-meaty-pizza party….wait until you see this pizza he designed…incredible!!

214: Spring is Comin’…..

admin March 7th, 2010

Last weekend, it was just so pretty out, so I grabbed these flowers to share with you. I love Spring and the hopeful, cheerful message it brings that Winters don’t last forever, and more beautiful days are ahead.

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And of course, Spring wouldn’t be complete without these in the lawn, would it? If it weren’t for these and Moss, I would probably have a dirt/rock yard….ok, we have SOME grass, but not the pristine country club kind, that’s for sure.

I am out of the doldrums already…thanks to those who wished me well during that time. I knew it wouldn’t last forever, and I know those days will come back again…

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One more quick thing to share, and then I gotta get back to ….cue the ominous music …..the “Project List” ....

A couple quick snaps of my project for the Doll Quilt Swap 8 .... of course I am behind, what else? I had these grand aspirations of getting it done and sent on time….but..well, yeah, it didn’t happen….but here are some snapshots, and to my Doll Quilt Swap 8 partner go out big apologies….but I will send extra fabric so you can score there…

And just so you know Swap Partner, I haven’t used the scissor fabric for anything for myself yet, so I hope you really know how special it is for me to put it into your quilt, Ok??