Look Book

The Spring 2015 Look Book is now available!
LINK HERE to give it a look.

Candy Cuffs

Want a fabulous new cuff bracelet?
Want to make it yourself?
The official release for this pattern is at Quilt Market next month, but it happens to in the pattern shop already (in case you want to get the jump on it).
And let me just tell you...these are SO FUN to make!
Plus, they are fast and easy.
A little wool, a cute cotton print, a button, some bling, and 30 minutes.
Seriously!
I cannot stop making them.
I even ordered a monster pack of Swarovski crystals so I could make...oh I don't know...one (or five) for every single person I know.
Seriously!
And, I might just say that it is never too early to start on Christmas gifties. Your people will love you!

Color Me Happy

Yeah, another Color Me Happy sighting!
This one was made by my friend Linda H. Isn't is wonderfully fresh and modern looking?!

If you have finished any of the patterns from my book, I would love to see (and share them)!
You can reach me by email at rana@sewnintothefabric.com.
And if you need a copy of the book, you can get one HERE.

The Nap Sack

Look what is brand new in the pattern shop!

The Nap Sack is a child sized sleeping bag made from polar fleece (or minky) and jelly roll strips.
Super easy! Super cute! And super gift-y!

I made these for my nieces and nephews for Christmas this past year. They loved them!
Not only do they insist on sleeping in them every night (tucked into the nap sack in bed under the covers...hello, ADORABLE) they also like to use them as jumping bags, hide and go seek spots, gymnastic mats, and mummy/ghost costumes. So the "nap" part of the Nap Sack...yeah totally optional!

This pattern will be available in print this spring, but for now you can find it in my Etsy shop as an instant download. LINK here.

Stag

We have a lot of dear around here.
Depending on what they are up to, we either love them or hate them.
But either way, they are a source of inspiration.
Sometimes they inspire marksmanship and other times they inspire quilts.

This one made its way to a friend who is recovering from surgery.
AND, come this spring, it will make its way into the pattern shop!!

A Quilter on a Mission

Here are a few quilts my friend Mary V made from my book Simply Strings.

From left to right: Shantytown, Color Me Happy, and Horse Feathers.
And for the record, she made them all in less than 2 weeks!
Amazing.

Mice!

We have mice again!
But this time they are the good kind. The adorable, whiskery, cute fabric, pincushion-y, kind.

She stands 2 1/2" tall and has a 4" long tail.
What do you think? Could you love this little squeeker??
Patterns are available HERE and HERE.

The 2015 String-Along

String quilting.
It is an obsession around here.
I just can't seem to stop. And really, why would I want to?!

This star block, called Webmaster, measures 22" finished and is the center block in the 2015 String-Along (a free BOM). If you have not gotten your pattern yet, you can do so HERE.

This medallion-style project has 6 rounds and measures in at 84" square. That means you can be done by June and you will have A LOT less fabric in your scrap basket.

I chose a 7 color palette for this project: aqua, orange, raspberry, lime, purple, blue and yellow, plus a black and white polka dot for the background and a black and white text for the narrow borders. And I have to tell you, I have almost no fabrics left in my scrap basket in those colors!

I hope you will stitch along with me, and send me some pictures of what you are doing. I would love to show them off here on the blog!

New for 2015!

There are a few new things happening around here these days.
New and exciting things!
Things for you, from me!

Number 1...
How about a newsletter?
Yes, that sounds good.
But how about a newsletter filled with things you want (not just advertising).
Free things. Inspiring things. Things to create. Things to enjoy.
Yes, that's the kind of newsletter I am talking about.

This year, I am going to focus on six different types of content:
Patterns
Mood Boards (fully editable and customizable)
Desktop (and Mobile) Backgrounds
Recipes
Tutorials
Pattern Reviews and Discounts
You can sign up for the monthly mailer HERE, if you are interested.

Number 2...
How about a new Block of the Month?
Yes, that sounds good too.
But how about a FREE BOM!
A free, string quilted, medallion style, mystery BOM.
That's the kind of project I am talking about.
One that can put quite a dent in your scrap basket.
You can find the intro and pattern for the first month HERE, if you are interested.
And you can grab the button right here:

<div class="pieces-of-ranas-life-button" style="width: 125px; margin: 0 auto;">
<a href="http://www.sewnintothefabric.com/stringAlong.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">
<img src="http://www.sewnintothefabric.com/Images/side%20bar%20150px/StringAlong1Button.jpg" alt="Pieces of Rana's Life" width="125" height="125" />
</a>
</div>

Number 3...
How about a great new book?
Yes, that sounds good too.
How about a book about modern string quilting.
A book filled with patterns (12 of them) to decrease your scraps and increase your level of cozy.
Hopefully you have already heard about this book, but just in case you haven't:

I wrote it myself and you can get a copy of it  HERE, if you are interested.

And finally, Number 4...
How about a FANTASTIC new house?
Yes, that sounds really good too.
But how about a HOME. A comfy, cozy little place on the central coast of California.
A place where a family can settle in and enjoy the changing of the seasons and the marching of time.
Together. With love and happiness and fresh eggs every day.
I have just the place for you, and you can check it out HERE, if you're interested.

(And yes, this is our home. We are looking to make a MAJOR change in our address. To start a new page and a new adventure in a new place. New. New, New. And a little old. Because you can't change everything. And who would want to? We will still be the same happy couple with the same time tested outlook on life and the same beloved small businesses. We will just be enjoying it all in a DIFFERENT place. A place where the changing of the seasons looks and smells a little different than here and where time still marches on, whether you want it to or not. And yes, the new place will still be filled with love and togetherness and fresh eggs daily, but our hens will be a lot more cold hardy!)

My friend Laura, of Dienzo Fine Art Photography, took these pictures of our home. You can find her HERE if you are in need of any amazing photography for yourself.

A Belated Winner

And the winner of Simply Strings is...
#4, Dorothy, who had this to say:
Congratulations! Can't wait to see it! Love your designs.

Super sorry for the delay on this but I got caught up in the hub-bub of the Thanksgiving holiday and the beginning of the Christmas festivities!

Shop Small

It's almost time for Small Business Saturday.
Use coupon code SBS2014 for a 25% discount on your entire order.
Thanks for supporting small business!

Simply Strings

We are back home from Quilt Market, in Houston, and ready to settle in for the holiday season.

 
But before we do, there is something VERY important I need to tell you about.

My first book!
It is called Simply Strings: A Modern Approach to a Traditional Quilt Block.

I started this book almost three years ago without knowing it.
I was over run with scraps and decided that I was going to bust them. ALL of them. So I started string piecing blocks and then quilts and before I knew it I had 14 quilt tops, a scrap basket that was still overflowing, and an idea for a book. And the rest, as they say, is history. Well, except for all of the work of writing an entire book!

My favorite project in the book is...well all of them.
But here are a few that were very popular at Market:

Hope for Tomorrow

Color Me Happy (low volume option)

Organic

 

And of course, an announcement like this would not be complete without a GIVEAWAY!
Leave a comment letting me know what you think and I will draw a winner next week.
(I hope it's you.)

Pretty Notions

We have added some beautiful new seam rippers and needle cases to the Etsy shop.

Aren't they beautiful?
There are 15 different ones available, so check them out (link here)!

String Quilting Workshop

Last week I taught a little workshop on string quilting to a wonderful group of quilters here on the central coast.

They brought a wonderful assortment of scraps.

And used them to make the most wonderful assortment of blocks.

Etsy

I have opened a little Etsy shop!



You can check it out here.



And here is the coupon code for 20% off (expires 6/19/14): 06202014.



Let me know what you think!

Big Rain

I am in Anderson, Ca this weekend for my final quilt show of the season.
As I was leaving the building tonight I got caught in a BIG rain storm.

And when I say BIG, I mean:
Big purple lightning, and Big rolling thunder, and Big gusty winds, and Big fat rain drops, and little jagged hail stones pinging off the cars. It took about 1 minute for the street to go from dry to puddled, and about 3 seconds for the human body to go from dry to soaked through. It was wonderful! It may even be the BEST rain storm I have ever gotten caught in.
So, if you like to quilt and you like rain, come and see me tomorrow (or Saturday or Sunday).

A Pillow Pattern

Geez... Let me blow the dust off these keys!
It looks like it has been...well, a LONG time since I have posted anything. I feel like this happens every time I start gearing up for quilt market. I get overwhelmed and pretty much fall off the face of the Earth. Then, after it is all over and I am back home, I have somehow lost my mojo and it takes me forever to get back in the groove. I know, I know. I am a whiner.

Let's move on, shall we.

How are you?

Me?

Well, I am getting my groove on and working my fingers to the bone and making dinner every night and working in my garden and making friends with the treadmill and... publishing patterns of course.

Sew Charmed is the latest and you can find it in the newest issue of Sew-it Today (it is that cute hexie pillow there on the cover).

I hope you all have found this great little magazine, and its sister publication Quilt-it Today, on store shelves and have been adding them to your collection. If you haven't, go find them. It will be worth your time... I promise.

Diaper Duty

We have some sweet friends who are expecting their first baby.
A girl!
Due in October.

So, of course, it is baby shower time!
I have not been in the baby-shower-season-of-life for a little while now, but it seems like that is about to change. Lots of young people in my daughters' age range are starting to have babies, so I am back in the loop. Hurray! 

This friend requested a diaper bag in pink, white and gray. I used my own pattern (Baby Zoe, and you can get it here if you are interested) to make one for her. The "E" is for Eden. Adorable, right! The name, not the bag.

So back to the shower....We really enjoyed it.
That's right "we". As in me AND my guy.
It was a first for him, and me. A couples shower.
He nearly balked when I told him he was invited, but then he remembered how much he cares for the parents-to-be, and agreed to go. And by remembered I might mean "was reminded repeatedly"!
Fortunately, it was not too girly, which he was very worried about. No tea sandwiches or funny little games. Nope, this was a tri-tip and beer, bbq in the park with plenty of other men to play horseshoes with. So he was able to overlook the daddy-to-be's bright neon pink t-shirt, the diaper cake and a mountain of pastel color packages. He was a real trooper.

Now tell me, are couples showers the latest trend??  I am so out of the loop!!

Fresh Picked and a Give-Away

See that cute pear pincushion on the cover?
That pattern is courtesy of moi.
Page 12.
You're gonna love it. It stitches up super fast and will make a great gift for all your sewing friends.
And it is getting to be that time a year again....time to start your holiday sewing. So keep it in mind!

Quilt-it Today is a great magazine filled with beginning to intermediate projects of all kinds.
It retails at a whole $3.99, so if you haven't picked one up yet, you might want to check it out.
They also publish a companion magazine called Sew-it Today with projects geared more toward general sewing. Because those of us with fabric, scissors and a sewing machine need options. Lots of them.

We also need giveaways. Like cute pincushion giveaways!
This is a little green version of the pear, and it is just waiting to come and live with you.

 
Two ways to enter:
1. Become a follower or let me know you already are.
2. Spread the love and post a little something about this giveaway.

I'll choose a winner on Friday the 23rd and I hope it's you!

After

And here we are, all sorted out, set up and ready for business in our 6' x 10" space.

It took absolutely ALL day, but it was worth it!
And here is a close up of my "fireplace".

I had originally wanted to use some great architectural salvage as the columns and then paint a cardboard fire. But the salvage was no where to be found. So this idea evolved thanks to the suggestion of a sweet friend of mine. And it turned out so much better than the original plan, don't you think?! (And yes, the fire is pink, orange and yellow. It was the only colored chalk we could find. So we simply decided right then and there that pastel fire was EXACTLY what we needed.)

We are in Booth #2760. Come by and see us if you are in the neighborhood.