Author Archive

We’re excited to announce that we’ll be hosting our second Twitter chat, directly from Quilt Market, with none other than fabric designer, musician, and all around cool guy David Butler.  (You may remember our first chat with Denyse Schmidt from Houston a few markets back. Transcript here.)  We’ll be chatting with David about his wildly popular debut line with Free Spirit Fabrics, Curious Nature, his experiences thus far with fabric design and the quilting industry, and about what he has planned next.  Oh, and I’m sure the topic of his wife (you may recognize the name Amy Butler?) may come up, too.

Best of all, David will answer your questions!  The best part of a Twitter chat is that you can all be part of the conversation.  Here’s how to join the discussion:

Welcome to the Sewing MODKID Style book tour! And apologies to anyone who was looking for this post on Friday. Due to a scheduling snafu at FQHQ (i.e., John had the wrong date!) we’re joining the tour a bit later than expected. No worries — we still have a great post and a book giveaway to get to, so let’s go!

As the father of twin girls, I was very excited to get my hands on a copy of Patty Young‘s new book, Sewing MODKID Style from John Wiley books (check out WileyCraft.com). Patty’s fans already know that Patty is a popular sewing blogger and prolific designer of both patterns and fabric (through Michael Miller). As the mother of two girls herself, her style has a decidedly fresh, playful, colorful and feminine spirit.

My excitement, however, was mixed with some trepidation — Patty is known for her expertise on sewing with knits, and I had never sewn with knits before.  With book in hand and some newly acquired knits, I was ready to tackle a project from the book.

Full-size pattern pieces are included in this fun enclosure, featuring some of Patty’s designs!

But first, a bit more about this gorgeous little book itself.  Sewing MODKID Style is subtitled Modern Threads for the Cool Girl, and inside you’ll find a wide variety of children’s clothing and accessory patterns in the true MODKID style: not only are they cute and stylish, but are highly functional for kids’ everyday activities like running, climbing, and playing.  Let’s face it: our kids are not easy on their clothes!

Inside, you’ll find the 20 project ideas organized by chapter:

• Accessories, including a headband, leg warmers, and more — plus a pattern for a full-size quilt made entirely from knits!
• Bottoms, such as yoga pants (or shorts), skirts, and leggings.
• Tops, from a tank top to a sweater and many in between.
• Dresses and ensembles — you’ll even find a swimsuit and cover-up project!

As valuable as the patterns themselves is an extensive reference guide on sewing and finishing techniques for knit fabrics, including double knits, jersey knits, and lycra.  I used these instructions extensively, as I’ll describe in a bit.

Although it’s not snowy here in NC, I still thought some knit scarves would be a fun project!

Instead of just reviewing the book, I wanted to actually make a project from it.  I decided on the Stripwork Scarf, which seemed like a beginner-friendly pattern, and something I could easily make two of.  (Remember, I have twins — just making one item is not an option!)  After selecting a variety of knits (I went for a more scrappy version of Patty’s pattern, which only uses 2 fabrics), I went to my local sewing store for some new supplies.  Patty provides needle and thread recommendations, and I was easily able to find the items I needed.

A sample page from Patty’s invaluable Guide to Sewing with Knits.

The saleswoman at my local shop helped me select these 80/12 jersey needles, appropriate for most interlock and jersey fabrics.  Patty explains why these ballpoint needles are most appropriate for sewing with knits.

Patty recommends a polyester thread (which has more elasticity than all-cotton thread).

After reviewing Patty’s tips on the proper settings on my machine for sewing with knits, I was ready to go!

Don’t have a serger?  Neither do I.  But Patty includes full instructions on how to use the different stitches on our home machines to effectively sew with knits.

I started my project using the stem (or stretch) stitch, but decided that it was taking too long to sew my seams!  Patty’s instructions helped me select the proper length and width of my stitches.

After some trial & error, I decided that a regular zig-zag stitch was what worked best for me.

As soon as I cut my fabric, I was ready to go! The scarves came together very quickly, and the forgiving instructions provided an easy and approachable project to truly get comfortable using knit fabrics.

My girls love their new springtime scarves and are already asking me what I’m going to make them next!

Um, yeah … so we did our photo shoot in our pajamas.  I’m sure you’re familiar with the “morning after a late night sewing finish photo shoot”.  No big deal!

Stylish AND easy.  What could be better?

We’re excited to offer up a free copy of Sewing MODKID Style to a lucky Fat Quarterly reader! Simply leave a comment on this post and tell us about your experiences sewing with knits, or if you’ve never done it before (like me!) We’ll draw a random winner in about a week.

There’s a chance to win a free copy at each stop on the tour, so please be sure to visit these other great sites:

Monday, April 2nd, 2012: Wiley Craft Blog
Wed., April 4th, 2012: A Sewing Journal
Friday, April 6th, 2012: Pink Chalk Studio
Monday, April 9th, 2012: Melanie Dramatic
Wed., April 11th, 2012: Stop Staring and Start Sewing
Friday, April 13th, 2012: Generation Q
Monday, April 16th, 2012: Lil Blue Boo
Wed., April 18th, 2012: True Up
Friday, April 20th, 2012: Paige Hill
Monday, April 23rd, 2012: Boutique Café
Wed., April 25th, 2012: The Long Thread
Friday, April 27th, 2012: Sew Pretty Dresses
Monday, April 30th, 2012: Prudent Baby
Wed., May 2nd, 2012: Our Busy Little Bunch
Friday, May 4th, 2012: Fat Quarterly <— YOU ARE HERE!
Monday, May 7th, 2012: Making It Fun
Wed., May 9th, 2012: MODKID blog

Good luck! If you make something from Sewing MODKID Style, we’d love to see it!

Here at Fat Quarterly, we strive to include projects and patterns for all skill levels in each and every issue. The Scrappy Squares quilt, designed and made by One Shabby Chick herself, Amber Carrillo, is a perfect example of a beginner-friendly project that also has great appeal for more advanced quilters looking for a quick project. Scrappy Squares, along with many more original project ideas, is included in issue 9, our kids & teens issue — now available for purchase!

We wrap up our week of sneak peeks into Fat Quarterly’s 9th issue — our kids & teens issue — with a look at our first ever quilt pattern perfect for twins. This duo of tween-friendly quilts was made by John (a father of twins, natch), and features the mysterious and magical new Nightshade fabric line by Tula Pink for Free Spirit Fabrics.

If you’re a Fat Quarterly subscriber, you should have already received your issue.  If you haven’t, you might want to check your spam folder.  And if you still haven’t, be sure to let us know!

Not a subscriber?  Single issues of Fat Quarterly are always available via our Buy Now tab above.

We hope you’re enjoying all of the sneak peeks at the various projects that you’ll only find inside the pages of Fat Quarterly Issue 9 — our kids & teens issue! Katy’s contribution to issue 9 is a fantastic quilt she’s named “Many Hands”, and she made it from this lovely stack of fabrics from Laurie Wisbrun‘s new line for Robert Kaufman Fabrics, so appropriately called Brr!

By now, our fabulous subscribers should already be enjoying their copies of issue 9. (Psst — subscribers, if you haven’t received your copy yet, let us know via customerservice@fatquarterly.com!) For those who prefer to purchase single issues, they will be available for sale shortly.

We can’t wait to hear what you think of issue 9!

We’re so excited to share the fun Sleepy Friends project with you today! Designed by our friend Jessica from the jmbmommy blog, this adorable pillow is a perfect fit in issue 9, our kids & teens issue, currently available to our fabulous subscribers.

Issue 9 will be available for single issue purchase shortly!

Issue 9 has started arriving in our subscribers’ inboxes! In this issue, our kids & teens issue, you’ll find wonderful sewing and quilting projects that you can complete both for — and with — the children in your lives. The quilt shown above, Scattered Straws, is one great example of a more teen-focused project. Scattered Straws was designed and made by Jane Davidson (aka Quiltjane to her blog readers and Twitter followers!) Jane lovingly donated this quilt to Project Linus, which we cover extensively in this issue.

Subscribers, if you don’t receive your issue in the next 24-48 hours, please let us know via customerservice@fatquarterly.com (though you might want to check your spam folders first!) Single issues for non-subscribers will be available for purchase by the end of the week.

Here’s another brand new, original quilt pattern that you’ll only find in issue 9 of Fat Quarterly — our kids & teens issue! This fun project is called The Home Stretch and was designed by our very own Tacha Bruecher. It’s a fabulous and versatile pattern that is perfect for both boys and girls, and would be equally stunning with a dark background as it is with a white one. What fabrics would you use to make yours?

Issue 9 of Fat Quarterly is being sent to our subscribers as we speak, and will be available for single issue purchase later this week. We can’t wait to hear what you think about it!

After what seems like the shortest duration between issues, we’re pleased to release our 9th issue this week. This time, we’ve turned our focus to one of our very favorite subjects: kids! Issue 9 is all about sewing both for and with the children in our lives, and is chock full of all-new original sewing patterns and projects, features and articles (including an extensive look at ideas for Project Linus quilts), book reviews, our Designer’s Challenge, and much more from the talented members of the Fat Quarterly community.

The above is a sneak peek at Springtime Hues, a quilt pattern by Elizabeth Dackson of Don’t Call Me Betsy and featuring the Modern Whimsy line by Laurie Wisbrun for Robert Kaufman fabrics. We’ll be bringing more sneak peeks throughout the week.

Fat Quarterly subscribers will begin receiving their copies of Issue 9 shortly, and it will be released for single issue purchase later this week.

Wow.  To say that Modern Madness 2012 has been a roller coaster ride would be an understatement.

We began with 64 of the most fabulous modern fabric lines on the market and — round after round, week after week — you voted for your favorites.  Many (if not most) of the races were as tight as can be, decided by the slimmest of margins.  You’ve let us know that many of your front-runners were upset earlier than you had expected, and we never knew how the tournament would progress.

From 64, we got down to 32 … then our Sweet 16 … we determined the Elite Eight … and rooted for our favorites in the Final Four.  It all led to our epic final battle: the bold and graphic Echo, the debut line by first-time Modern Madness competitor Lotta Jansdotter versus the fresh and retro-sweet Ruby by the mother-daughter team of Bonnie & Camille.  1105 of you voted — the highest turn-out by far in this year’s tournament — and we’re excited to announce our winner.

By a margin of 57% (631 votes) to 43% (473), congratulations to our 2012 Modern Madness Champion …

RUBY
by Bonnie & Camille
for Moda Fabrics
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here’s Moda’s description of Ruby:

Ruby is a small town girl with big dreams, and even bigger style.  She works at the town ice cream parlor in her favorite red polka dot dress and can be found doing the jitterbug with her best girlfriends at the Country Diner on the weekends.  This cheery line is full of Ruby’s favorites, including a smattering of soin red and aqua, retro flowers, vintage prints and pretty little scallops.

Ruby now joins Habitat, our 2011 champion, in the Modern Madness Hall of Fame, and she is a very worthy champion indeed.  We’d love to hear your thoughts, both on Ruby’s ascent to the top of the heap as well as on Modern Madness overall.  We hope you had fun and learned about a lot of new fabrics and designers along the way.

We’d also like to build a readers’ gallery of Ruby projects to celebrate its win, so if you’ve worked with Ruby and have a quilt or other sewn project to share, please add your photos to our Fat Quarterly Flickr group.  We can’t wait to see them!

Scoring: for those of you keeping score, did anyone predict that Ruby was going to win?  If you did, give yourself 32 points!!  Add it to your previous total to get your final score.  Let us know your final score in the comments below — we’d love to hear how you all did!

And with that, we bring another year of Modern Madness to a close.  We truly hope you had as much of a blast as we did.  So who’s going to be back for Modern Madness 2013??