Blue Nickel Studios

admin August 24th, 2010

okay quick isn’t really the right word, but I am sneaking this post in as quickly as I can, because I wanted to share this little sketch I started for the Hoop Up! swap I joined, and just pop in and say hi….neither of which I have much time for this week!  (I cannot or will not even begin to tell you how swamped I am….and most of it isn’t the fun, muddy, playtime type of swamped either…a little, but not much).....

Anyhoo…here is my beginning sketch for my base piece for my theme “Better Cottages and Gardens”

Very quickly drawn on a SHORT break at the DayJob….but I think I like the direction it’s going…kinda wonky, kinda whimsical, kinda silly….a lot like me…(only I wish that I could be sillier at times….I get to serious for my own good way to often…ask ANYONE who knows me well!)

Okay if I go on and on and on anymore this won’t be “quick like a bunny”

Sew long for now my friends!!

Thanks for stopping by….

okay, really I am signing off now…

bye!

Just as I was going to post this…it got sent to the trash!!  AAUUUGHHHH…..thank God for “restore”....okay now I am really leaving you….ciao!

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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!!

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admin July 14th, 2010

well, if you follow me on Twitter, you know that I have been thinking and plotting to get this unique garment from a Seattle-based company.....and because Linda saw them demonstrated at a conference awhile back and has repeatedly told me that she wanted to get me into one…..

so she won…..I think that most of these pictures are actually horrendous, and that 5o pounds that I really wanted to lose has now turned to 70…but neither figure is probably super realistic…..and it requires more conviction than I presently possess….which I say because I just polished off a couple 3-4 larger scoops of vanilla ice cream

Some of my Twitter pals had alternate views on me getting it, but most were for it, okay most who said anything directly regarding this purchase——there is no accounting for those who followed their mother’s advice about things “nice to say” and silence, etc…...and Monica told me I must show them SOON….so I am doing so right now….fresh back from the trip to Seattle.  So there  you have it….and don’t call it a skirt, okay, or something like this may happen to you…..I’m just warning you that’s all…

But just so you know we did a little more in Seattle than this (though not much I must admit)  We happened upon a couple treasures I’m going to share with you.

Found these wonderful books for sale in an antique “paper” store…really neat shop, side street…I did not write down the name….sorry kindly shopowner…

I got them mainly for their covers and the inside art…and just their overall look…even the lovely old book smell…

I love Joe’s outfit on this cover….I think would need to lose half of me to pull it off though…and about 25 years… 

I liked the title of this one, and it reminded me of what I am trying to do in the world of textiles and quilting….the swim part of course is  the actual goal…

I liked all the bindings, but this one in particular caught my eye….

And earlier at the toy store, along with bacon lip balm and bacon soap for the boy’s Christmas stockings, I got this little guy….

  and his box    

and here’s this sad little guy’s story…I looked at the display model, and saw it work all wound up and all….and didn’t take this guy out of his box til I got home….when I did, his arm promptly fell off, and though we got him back together his arms don’t move, and I am pretty sure they did on the model, and he doesn’t really walk too good either….so goes the phrase buyer beware….

That’s it for today’s 2nd post…..(haven’t done two posts in one day in awhile!)

Oh, and I might even read those books….......eventually….....maybe…....

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admin June 2nd, 2010

Yes, here are more Quilt Market moments via Blue Nickel….Here am I with Amy and David Butler….I barely met David, as I heard he was mountain biking the whole time and only came to take down the booth….yes, Amy is still smiling on Sunday at the end of this very busy 4 day event.  For new and upcoming peeps like me, its fun…for Amy, I am sure it is very hard (but fun) work…  

More Amy Butler beauty…..the pillows are a new pattern coming out…the walls and the paper flowers are her new line Soul Blossoms coming out later this summer…..I think August is when it will be available…  

and Amy’s cool shoes….yeah, I know  I’m a guy and as a rule we don’t care too much about fashion, and I must admit I don’t know much about fashion per se….but these were pretty cool shoes…even though I got them in transit….  

Most everyone has posted about the New Rowan Yarns coming out in ”Amy” colors.   I must also admit I  don’t now much about fashion….but I do know that my daughter squealed when she saw these legwarmers…call it the 80’s in me, but I thought they looked pretty cool too….

 Amy, deep in thought, probably about how long will it take to get all this stuff packed up…...    

My favorite picture I think ….I know I am going to love this line…..  

Here is Amy’s marvelous team  Mallory and Diane…...Diane pretty much runs the place so Amy can be…. well…Amy….(I can’t wait til I have someone take care of everything for me….and I don’t mean at the Nursing Home, okay??)   .......And Mallory, who was pretty quiet, is the new kid on the block I think….and as sweet as can be….

Since Soul Blossoms isn’t on fabric yet…they were showing it in paper on these great giganto flowers…....

I must say talking with Amy off and on during the  Market was just so wonderful…Truly she is remarkably unassuming and very “real”....  I could have been talking with her in the grocery store over the apple table in the vegetable department…not a discouraging thing about her….She was even giving me advice on some of the things I am striving to do…Not like a  Know-it-all, but like a sister sharing with her brother…..I feel like I could have gone to high school with her, and even though I really barely know her, Amy made me feel like an old friend.

And here is just another wonderful designer who just lives one state away down in Oregon….Valori Wells.   Valori has been designing for some time now, and was RAISED in the quilting business, so I love talking to her as she really KNOWS this world inside and out.

I just love the quilt behind her and these bags….      

Here is her new line Nest ….....    

And here is her gift to one of you!!   3 patterns and some Nest fabric…possibly before you and even get it locally….but I just read some of it is shipping out now….

So to win this Valori Wells prize pack….why don’t you tell me something you like about birds or a story or a poem or something else….and then when I get to 25 comments….I will start looking and reading and (here’s the tough part)....pick my favorite bird “moment”....so make me laugh or make me cry….the one that resonates with me most will win…..

Don’t forget that there are prizes to be won still on my last 3 blog posts as well…..and I haven’t drawn on them all yet….one might be over the 25 comments already, but you can still throw your name in the hat.  I don’t have the time to choose them all tonight or tomorrow….so I will see what the status is on Friday evening and see what needs to be drawn and who will win what….AND…don’t forget the next few posts will ALSO have prizes…so if you don’t want to miss them you can sign up  on the left under “Subscribe” and you can get email announcements when I post….I don’ t send out junk mail, and it isn’t linked to anyone else sending spam….so you only get stuff when I post…

I am really looking forward to hearing your bird stories….(oh, and did you notice, Amy had birds up in her booth as well)...so this was a good theme for the post, I think….

Cheers,

Scott

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admin May 26th, 2010

I cannot believe it has been 25 days since I posted….I think that is a crime in Blogland, isn’t it? At the very least a misdemeanor. I am freshly back from Quilt Market, and had a marvelous time meeting some people for the first time and some all over again, and some of the people I met for the first time I had know for years here in the blogosphere…

For an excuse, I offer the following pictures of what I was working on for Quilt Market…3 quilts …didn’t I say I wouldn’t do that many at once LAST Market?  Yet I succumbed…  one I didn’t have to deal with the quilting or the binding, and so I did that one on top of the two I committed to earlier in the season..yet, they still came to be done all at the 11th hour…I think it was that real life thing cutting into my time, and oh yeah, a slight bit of procrastination on my part?

Here are the quilts and their pix in no particular order:

the line Free to Grow by Nancy Mims for Robert Kaufman fabrics…..

And The line Brady Bunch by Michael Miller Fabrics:

And then the Boys Will Be Boys quilt by David Walker for Free Spirit Fabrics...(that direct link may not yet work as I don’t think it will be available for a few weeks still?)

and yes, in this last picture, that is a skeleton peeking in on the left….my doll-maker wife  needs things like that for proper proportions you know. 

The patterns for these quilts should be available online for FREE eventually. I will post links here when they are, and I would love it if when you do one of my quilt designs, if you join the Blue Nickel Studios group page on Flickr and post a picture of your creation there.

And now that I have got you caught up on what was happening around here before Quilt Market ..... tomorrow I will post about my time at Quilt Market, who I met, some actual pictures at Market, some upcoming news (although pretty much everyone has posted about it by now!) and you’ll like this part…some giveaways…quite a few actually…

And so let’s start things off right for the end of May here at the Blue Nickel….with Giveaway #1…..when I get up to 25 comments here on THIS post (that’s 25 comments for 25 days), I will give away a scrappy package with a little bit of all the fabrics in these quilts….okay you twisted my arm, when I get up to fifty comments I will giveaway two scrap packs!! 

Come back tomorrow for some more of my ramblings, pix, and giveaways too, okay??  see ya then!!

Scott

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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!)

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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!!

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admin April 5th, 2010

Thi colorful Pompom Mirror was a gift from Mimi a few years back…A little too bright for the rest of the house, but it goes just great in the studio.  It is just a basic IKEA mirror that she hotglued a bunch of Pompoms on….here it hangs with my Chinese boxing boys, the Abominable Snowman, my homemade pencil frame and a Christmas kitten drawn by the same Miss Mimi…

....and here is something a tad more exciting than this messy corner of the studio.  I have had the pleasure of being interviewed by Joe Cunningham for his upcoming book, Men and the Art of Quiltmaking.  Joe asked me last year and interviewed me by phone for my bit in the book.  And I have three of my quilts going in it, one of which you can make cause I wrote up directions for it for Joe’s book.   Joe was up in my neck of the woods about 5-6 weeks ago, and we had a great evening after his show at a local quilt guild. If you haven’t seen him do his “show” it really is a great one, and I am here to say you should …..not only is he a talented quiltmaker, he is a great muscian too!!

  I can’t remember what Joe told me he wrote, but I okay’d it, so it must be decent!   I am really looking forward to getting my copy, and I will probably get a few to sell in our Etsy shop too, just cause I can, and you might want to get yourself a signed copy (well, okay my signature, not Joe’s…but maybe I can get some like that too.) 

That’s all for now, I am back to those approximately 673 things I have to do this month and 1/2 of next….

TTYL,   S.

PS, if you really want to keep closer tabs on me…which may or may not prove interesting, follow me on Twitter.  I am on there probably too often, but I might actually even say something intelligent once in awhile…maybe….more likely it would be something silly…but you know, whatever….  

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admin April 3rd, 2010

Hey there….how are you??

It has been busy around here…as more people get to know about Blue Nickel Studios and me, I have been getting the most interesting emails….that and my computer crashed last weekend, which totally flipped me out, but all of my design stuff and addresses etc were safe…but it really did freak me out…that I and I did some more cleaning in the studio, which it sorely needed..it still needs more, but that’s another story.  

So here is a sneak peek at one of the projects I have just finished.   It is for the magazine, Quilter’s Newsletter , so I can’t show any more until the issue comes out.  It was a Paula Prass project that I have designed out of Paula’s Woodland Delight collection, and very fun.  The palette was much more minimalistic than my usual fare, so in that respect I found it a challenge, but when you see it later this year, I hope you will agree that I met that challenge nicely.   Here are just a  few glimpses of it in process. 

That’s it…I thought I had more pictures….but just in case you don’t hear much from me in the next few weeks….here’s the list of they why’s:  

I have three quilts to make for Quilt Market in May…one for Free Spirit (Boys will be Boys)   one for Michael Miller (Brady Bunch) and one for Robert Kaufman (as of yet, I think undisclosed).....plus a couple other projects both little and big….oh yeah and that ole’ day job…..and ….uh….taxes….nope, I haven’t done them yet…and I usually am way done by now!!   So even though this is not my photo, I think it is pretty clear what my next 6 weeks are going to be like:

Hair-raising to say the least…  and to top all this….Linda wants to make a real man out of me by getting me into one of these....so 2010 is proving to be an interesting and fun year!!

And just because I like this….a picture of a dried bit of fennel that made it through the winter….

    Okay, now I gotta get going…lots of stuff to do this weekend design wise as well as Easter family activities….

A blessed and wonderful Easter to all!!

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admin March 23rd, 2010

Hey there…I know it’s been awhile since I posted..I have been working on a lot of deadlines and was already Twittering more than I had time for…let alone getting in here to Blogland…but tonite I wanted to share with you my daughter’s fashion show that I got to go to today (uh…that seems like too many to’s…but whatever)....and I was LATE!!  I was so upset with myself and the truck in front of me….I got to see the tail end of the show, but I didn’t get to see this great scene take place….Linda was there taking pictures…so I got to see this…but I have to tell you this….Mimi and the one boy in class had the best designs…the other “creations” didn’t look unique or even “designed” so I think I missed the best part…. but I thought you all would love to see my creative daughter’s inspiration, and I invited her back to be a guest blogger here again at the Blue Nickel….so without further adieu….the fabulous Mimi Hansen brings you her Spring 2010 creation…...

   Hi guys! it’s been awhile! how are you all doing? good? anyhoo… these are my designs….(i was embarrassed cuz i had to fill out this form and since my hand writing was so bad Alex, the announcer person, messed up .. oh well…what’s done is done) well i guess i should start from the top.  My top is made with crepe fabric, with purple lining. with my new invention PEEK-A-BOO SLEEVES!!  well, i think they’re new…dunno. TELL ME IF THEY’RE NOT!! well, next comes the skirt, it’s made with lightweight cotton and cute deer and poodle fabric that my dad bought for himself but, i stole it (not really….) then i just wore black tights under it with my leg warmers i made…. if you look closely you can see the squirrels! then my shoes are from rocket dog, they have polka-dots and cherries on the tips super cute right? one of the cherries fell off….that made me sad but, i think i can fix it! yeah! it was really fun! my friend tabitha was really scared, and i told her i wasn’t but, when i got on stage i was all like “oh snap…. I AM scared…...snap…what’ll i do? my heart is racing!” but, i think i did well. just so you know at my school i’m probably the most…...eccentric one there….. like….. i have this kitty hat and i have a puppy eared hair band….. and lots of other things i told myself (when i dressed like everyone else) “i’m going to be cool this year! dye my hair! be a trend setter! gonna be a total remix of my old self!” and that ’s what i did!  i think my dad posted one of my outfits before  right? it was a pink/purple tutu with a purple top leggings, and my kitty hat and polka-dot socks i where that one all the time i like anime alot so i cosplay alot! (cosplay=costume play) my dad feels bad about missing the first part but, i don’t hold him accountable! i mean he was there in the end right?so why does it matter? at least he tried! this is Amelia Hansen of Shattered Glass ( my “company”) signing off! i hope you enjoyed this little blog thingy! hope to see you next time Byebye!

Okay so that’s my girl….(actually I did go in there and do some cleanup of spelling and puncuation….it’s the English major in me…I can’t help myself….)  She has big dreams, and I am very proud of her for becoming her own person…she is a beautiful girl….

Tomorrow I may have some snippets from one of the projects that had me busy these last two weeks…later my friends…

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