Blue Nickel Studios

246: Just a little dropping in…

admin September 8th, 2010

If you have been reading here lately, you know that I have thrown myself into just a few too many projects lately…and I really don’t have a lot of time to post anything this morning, but I do have quite a few pictures to post….just no time to post them right at the moment….hopefully this Thursday I will get a chance to get a REAL post up for you, complete with LOTS of pictures….we’ll see. This morning, I just wanted to pop in here before I head out to my DayJob….

Here are the fabrics that I have set aside for the Fat Quarterly Quiltalong. They are a ton of leftovers from the two Douglas Day Projects I did for Free Spirit awhile back. I thought I would be completely crazy and make TWO of the FQ quiltalong quilts for the boys from these leftovers.

I had these very Large Panels left and I liked the Big Blue Man one like this:

But I had 3 of these guys and only two sons, and I also had one biker dude panel which I never really cared for all that much…not for the biker part, but I don’t like to encourage rebellion in my kids, you know? And I love the bold graphic nature of them….so I cut one Blue Man and the Biker Dude into 2 1/2” squares for the centers. I don’t really know HOW this is going to turn out, but so far I am pretty excited to see what evolves here.

I must confess, I started piecing the blocks together even though the FQ quiltalong doesn’t tell us how till next week….I figured it out, and I have two to make (along with everything else) and I need the head start. It feels like working with solids with a bold 70’s twist. We’ll see (and yes that means you too!)

Along other lines, Linda and I are both in the same magazine this month!! Quilter’s Home October/November 2010! I haven’t had time to take pictures of my quilt and the article in the mag, but I quickly scanned Linda’s bit for her and her blog, so I thought I would share it here too.

Here is her bit:

She has made about 50 of these great pins for sale on our Etsy site, and they really are neat in real life, I don’ t think pictures do them justice. Her beading ability has always ALWAYS amazed me!

Anyhoo, I have spent longer on this post than I intended….I just love sharing things with you all. I have a ton more, including so many things, I can’t even think straight. Sometime I just sign my emails to Linda as “the Vortex” as honestly that is how it feels sometimes. But if we always find Beauty around us in the midst of the spinning…that’s a good thing, right??

Hoping that you find Beauty in the middle of your busy day today!!

Piece out!

Scott

233: Swap meet….

admin July 1st, 2010

So I have been doing the Doll Quilt Swap for about 5 rounds now….this could be my last as the rules have strictly said if you are late on this one…You’re out on the next one….

and yes, I think they made that rule because of me…..I don’t think I was on time sending on any of them…I did great quilts, and my swap buddies TOLD me they loved them…but I was a bad swapper in regards to timeliness….I have til the first of September to get this baby done….I think I can do it…

The above picture are some fabric who have come to interview for the position in the quilt….the books are for inspiration….I get inspired by these two books a LOT….

Here is my sketch and some more fabrics…. The butterfly fabric is from Australia….and I do love it…my swap buddy loves purple and autumn and modern quilts….so I think somewhere in this we will find a good one, yes??
————————————————————————————
I also just sent out a bunch of these for the Siggy Swap set up by the fabulous Julie Herman!!

Here are mine in the process.

Here they are waiting for their white middles…. I had to go specially buy it…I don’t just have plain white hanging around here..

and here with their mid-drifts…

I did this swap just cause I thought it would be fun to have all these signatures from all these folks across the globe, in really modern fabrics, and just to have a simple quilt that is just for me to throw over when it gets chilly…..kinda like its been here in the NW this summer….seriously….my neighbor has a fire going tonight…on the first of July!!

so that’s it for today….
———————————————
then the upcoming news….

I have some quilts coming out in magazines again…about 4 this late summer and fall I think…as they get published I will let you know… I also have some more free patterns to post here, I just have to get my butt in gear and do it..I’ll let you know….

and this fall?? I hope to be getting some patterns available for sale at your local quilt shop or on some online shops….ok, it may be next spring…we’ll just see how that goes, okay? One day at a time, right??

And if you ever want to have me come share my quilts and stories at your local guild, just let me know…I love to talk about this stuff ….just ask my wife and kids!! I am a pretty cheap deal for the moment….until I hit it big-time...

And yes….. I did just put that last link in there…. I love the 80’s…...you’re welcome….

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….

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

227: Spring Quilt Market Pt. 3–Amy and Valori

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

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

225: Spring Quilt Market Pt. 1

admin May 30th, 2010

I decided to paint the bench that I refurbished….uh 2 years ago….and well do a little quilt market prep at the same time.

hmm…blue spray paint…..a bunch of nickels…..what can be done about that??

Dots!!

And a bunch of Blue Nickels to giveaway (and switch out in the concession stands at Market! if you happened to get one of these at Quilt Market from the concession stand contact me at bluenickel5 (at) earthlink (dot) net…and I will tell you how you can win a fabric-y prize! )

And now onto the show:

We’ll start with these Moda Ringleaders! I saw this red tutu from miles away, and I had to grab a photo for my daughter who is into the gothic lolita look… I did not catch these lovely ladies’ names in person, and I had the “cheap” camera with me, so I can only tell by closing in that on the right in all black we have the Lovely Erin, and on the left in the red tutu we have the Lovely Someone ending in “y” Corrections are gladly welcome at anytime! This booth was all the Moda finished goods and as always they had great stuff!

I met the lovely Kathie Alyce who has a new book out with AQS….neat stuff…I have more pictures of Kathie’s work….next post okay? Kathie used to work for the post office, she told me. She also told me that they told her she smiled too much….uh..yeah, I can see that good thing she got outa there!

Here is my friend Patty Young in her booth….she won a second place prize for it…I really don’t pay that much attention to that, but I was happy for her and her husband Jon, they build this booth together….I think she is talking to another famous designer, but I am not sure. Didn’t meet her…..Patty’s new line includes a bunch of knits…knits don’t do much for me personally, but apparently they are really good quality knits from everything that I was hearing there.

And then here are some more random shots in no particular order….but all drew my attention multiple times over….but notes taken? uh…well no, not really….so I leave others to tell you all the detail stuff …..

AND here is the first prize pack for the quilt market giveaways that I scored for you…BUT I still don’t have enough comments on the previous post giveawayto give that prize pack away….and I have more to give away in the next couple posts….so come on, my blogosphere buddies!!..help get out the word on these prizes. This prize includes what you see here, plus a surprise fabric pack that has yet to be made up. To win this prize identify as many of the designers represented here in this picture. The more you identify, the higher your chance of winning. I will do this drawing next weekend (June 5th or so) or when I get 25 comments whichever comes first. And don’t forget, if you commented on the last post, you can’t win one prize until I get 25 comments or the second chance prize until I get 50 comments….so to help yourself win, you have to give others the same chance.

Here is another picture of this prize in a less glorious setting with the fabric bundle going with it:

and yes, I am giving away Scissor fabric…that is big for me, I love that print, and it is not easy for me to share, but I will ...so I hope you enjoy…

224: 25 days later….

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

212:The Big E-asy…

admin February 28th, 2010

Thought I would start off with a pile of fabric to entice you into reading this post….did it work? I can’t believe I have written in here since the 14th! What a bad blogger I am ….actually just a very busy one. In late January, the Michael Miller Fabric company asked me to make a quilt for their new line the Big E collection (I would have links here, but it looks like the MMF site is down at the moment…so I will try to come back and add the links when I get the chance) They wanted it pretty fast, and as usual, I thought I could get it done fast, but couldn’t. (thanks for being so gracious, Christine at MMF….) but it is done now, and the pattern should be available on their site soon. I will let you know when it is actually up.

Here are just a few pix of the process I usually go through….sketches in my quad composition book…I LOVE these books for sketching quilt designs in. I don’t know why, I just do…they aren’t often “big” enough, but I like the hard covers and the gridded pages.

And here is some playing, experimenting, etc.

And here is the quilt top before quilting. I am pretty sure that I didn’t get pictures of it quilted. And after I finished the binding, I needed to send it off straight to New York City to the MMF offices. So this is all you get until the pattern comes out online. I will link to it from here too on the Downloads page.

When I first started it, I thought….oh, this is going to be too busy again, but I think it came out with a nice mix of an old-fashioned, yet tragically hip look to it….oh, and yeah, I named it the Big E-asy Quilt cause it is pretty easy, and the collection is called the Big E collection. .....yeah, kinda Ch-EE-sy I know, but that’s kinda how I roll sometimes. Ask Linda, she’ll roll her eyes in silent-shaking-her-head-agreement….

Anyway, I even felt compelled to make this runner from the scraps….it still needs binding….but having it quilted makes it that very much closer to being finished.

I am now trying to wrap up a big quilt from a Paula Prass collection for a magazine, and as usual, I bit off more than I could chew with it. It is a big quilt all in 60 degree triangles, and it is very time-consuming. I love and hate it at the same time right now. I know when it is done, I will like it. It is coming along well, but I am already bored with the piecing and there are over 1000 triangles in this baby. I just want it done. I think I get that way more when the fabric is all from one collection, but I dunno. I will show you some sneak peeks at the scraps from that project later. Since it is magazine bound, I can’t reveal any more about it here…...but it will be pretty nice in my humble opinion.

Lots going on this week too….Dinner with this famous guy on Thursday….and more that I can’t even talk about yet…..but hopefully soon….wish I could stay in Blog land longer tonight, but I gotta get working on a writing up a pattern for a book by above mentioned famous guy that I will tell you more about later too…..so stay tuned…....

Thanks for droppin’ by the Blue Nickel, my friends…...

Keep happy, Keep sewing!