recent weekend makings.

Posted on May 6, 2013 by carolynfriedlander

It’s been fun slipping in a few non-market related items over the last few weekends.

The first was a camera strap for my sister and her brand new camera.

lauries camera strap

made from the camera strap pattern in this booklet.

(fabric credits : stamped, dear stella, and some architextures)

lauries camera strap_2

…

Then there was a Super Tote.

supertote outside_noodlehead

Except I added cording to the entire front. (Would have added to the back too but ran out…)

supertote outside fabric

Pleated gusset is a sweet lil detail.

supertote pleat

Loving the elast-i-fied inside pockets. They will hold a TON.

supertote insides

Great pattern.

(fabric credits : stamped, Yoshiko Jinzinji, Robert Kaufman linen, and some architextures)

…

And finally some wiksten tanks that I’d been dying to make. These suckers go together nice and fast–I whipped out 2 in one day.

First with tsuru.

wiksten tank_tsuru

Then with some architextures.

wiksten tank_architextures_carolyn friedlander

I’m going to be living in these this summer.

…

a little peek.

Posted on May 2, 2013 by carolynfriedlander

I feel like I’m finally starting to come out from under my quilt market rock. These last few weeks have felt kind of intense as I put the finishing touches on a bunch of new stuff that I’m about to release.

Here’s a sneak preview.

slow sewing studio sneak_carolyn friedlander

I’ve been steadily working on a brand new pattern group. This is a group that I’ve been very excited about, and I hope others will be too! I’ve used it as an opportunity to do some different things, including reaching out to and working with a couple other designers who I really admire. I’ve solicited the talents of a mighty fine illustrator as well as another highly skilled pattern designer. It’s been so much fun.

In other–and very recent–news, I just had a minor incident in the sewing room that is turning this afternoon into “computer” time rather than the “sewing” time that was planned. I’m OK, but my left index finger needs to take it easy after taking a direct blow from my machine needle. It happens. I’m just glad that I’ll get by without a trip to the ER, and I didn’t get any blood on what I was working on. Awesome and awesome. Careful with those sewing machines.

And I just got the most lovely treats in the mail from the super talented Jessica Pollak. (a familiar face over at The Printed Bolt)

jessica pollak journals

jessica pollak ramen

I’d been lusting after both of these for some time now. What a treat! Both are available in her etsy shop.

Happy Thursday!

and the Modern Baby winner is…

Posted on May 1, 2013 by carolynfriedlander

…Brigit who said, ”I agree about baby quilts! My “baby” is ten, but I still love making baby quilts. Something about the size lends itself to creative design and fun palettes.”

I’ll be emailing you soon about your prize.

Sincere thanks to everyone who left comments. I thoroughly enjoyed reading through each and every one of them!

Babies, a Blog Tour, + a giveaway.

Posted on April 24, 2013 by carolynfriedlander

Welcome! I am happy to be today’s stop on the Modern Baby Blog tour. I had such a great time getting involved with this project.

Modern Baby Cover

My contribution was this one.

Tiny Textured Trees

Tiny, textured trees.

Some of my quilts start out in one place, go through some pretty serious evolution, and end up as something totally different. Then there are other quilts–like this one–that stay true to the original sketch. I’m always surprised either way.

Here’s my original sketch.

tiny trees sketch_carolyn friedlander

The colors in the scan come across a little (/a lot) on the yellow side, but all along I really liked the idea of a soft, minty green + lime palette.

Like all of my other current patterns, it’s a paper piecing project. I just love being able to dive into a project without too much prep work.

I also had fun incorporating a variety of substrates, most all of which are of the Robert Kaufman variety–corduroy, linen, essex, and radiance. The sashing is all corduroy and so soft.

tiny trees_carolyn friedlander_texture

In using a solid on the back, the design got carried over. I love those 2-fers.

tiny trees_carolyn friedlander_back

Even though I have no babies, I do like to make a baby quilt. The size isn’t intimidating, and I don’t feel the need to go gender specific or pastel.

Some of my friends are just starting to have babies, and lately I’ve been on a bit of a baby shower circuit. What I’ve noticed are more and more handmade goodies at the showers, which is thrilling. It’s always the handmade stuff that to gets held up the longest and passed around the most. There’s just something special about handmade.

Win yourself an e-copy of this great new book! Just leave a comment in this post about anything you deem relevant by May 1st. I’ll pick a name at random for the prize. Make sure to stop by all the other tour stops to increase your odds of winning. Everyone will be giving one away, so you’ve got several chances to win.

April 18, Thursday Jenny, StitchThis! http://blog.shopmartingale.com/

April 19, Friday Shea Henderson, http://emptybobbinsewing.com

April 22, Monday Jake Finch, http://generationqmagazine.com/

April 23, Tuesday Audrie Bidwell, http://blueisbleu.blogspot.com/

April 24, Wed Carolyn Friedlander, http://carolynfriedlander.com/blog/

April 25, Thursday Melissa Corry, http://happyquiltingmelissa.blogspot.com/

April 26, Friday Jen Eskridge, http://reannalilydesigns.com/blog/

April 29, Monday Sarah Flynn, http://fairyfacedesigns.blogspot.com/

April 30, Tuesday Dana Bolyard, http://oldredbarnco.blogspot.com/

May 1, Wednesday Amy Smart, http://www.diaryofaquilter.com/

May 2, Thursday Carrie Bloomston, http://suchitysuch.blogspot.com/

May 3, Fri Victoria Findlay Wolfe, http://www.bumblebeansinc.blogspot.com/

May 6, Monday Lindsey Rhodes, http://lrstitched.com/

May 7, Tuesday Pippa Eccles Armbrester, http://www.pippapatchwork.com/blog/

testing a new tool. (+ bias tape tutorial)

Posted on April 11, 2013 by carolynfriedlander

applique iron

I picked up a mini iron this week for a project I’m working on, and I’m surprised how much I like it already–she is surprisingly effective!

I splurged on the upgraded model with the safety guard, which was a good call. I can be a klutz and so any risk reduction in that area is probably worthwhile, especially since I still managed to singe myself on the hot holder on day 1. Watch out for that too.

Here’s a quick tutorial for double fold bias tape since I was just cranking some out. To be honest, I wouldn’t have thought this iron would give me such a great crease on something like this, but it turns out that it does just the trick. I’m a convert.

…

To make 1″ double fold tape, start with 1-7/8″ strips cut on the bias. Join with diagonal seam and press open.

diagonal seam

Feed the tape through a bias tape maker (#25 for this particular size) WRONG side UP and press folds in place as she comes out.

first fold_carolyn friedlander

To make it double fold, bring one side up so that folded edges are about 1/8″ apart. Press in place.

double fold bias_carolyn friedlander

Ta-dah. Jazz something up with your own custom binding. I’m always a fan of that.

And I’m apparently a real sucker for this ledger print in that bias-trim-scenario, see here and here.

architextures double fold bias tape_carolyn friedlander

hi, april.

Posted on April 1, 2013 by carolynfriedlander

Quilt Market is looming, as it tends to do. That’s fine. I mean there are still (quite a few) logistical things that need to be worked out, and my new stuff is not quite ready to see the light of day. But those are just details, right?

But seriously. I am really excited about the new stuff I’ve been working on. And I am excited to travel all the way over to Portland in May. I’ve never been there, and I hear she’s quite the hip lil place.

In addition to Quilt Market, I’m so happy to have a couple of workshops and trunk show lined up at Portland’s Modern Domestic. It’ll be fun to hang around after the show and meet more of the locals. On the agenda we’ve got some beginner-friendly stuff in an Aerial workshop (similar to this one), then some slightly trickier stuff in an Olive class, and finally a little socializing, chatting, and quilt-gazing in the evening during an open house/trunk show kind of thing.

I just recently shipped off the goodies for that.

olive and aerial in the mail

I’ve also been rummaging through my trash can for scraps to turn into notecards as I seem to have depleted my stash.

swatched card

These also kind of show some of my recent swatches and what I’m working with.

scrappy swatches

scrappy notecard

Marathon quilting on some new stuff…

quilting on essex linen

Dreaming about making a wiksten tank with some tsuru.

tsuru wiksten

And I’m massively impressed with Ken Kaufman’s “Matzotextures.” You’ve gotta check that out.

a quilt a day: parade of houses.

Posted on March 21, 2013 by carolynfriedlander

I had a lot of fun designing my Local quilt, and I’m really into the idea of not only the project as a whole, but also breaking it up into fun, little flavorful goodies. I’ve got a few that I haven’t gotten around to officially sharing, and now is as good a time as ever.

This here is my lone local or local-let, as I like to think of her. She’s a leftover from my planning period that I recently polished off with some borders and all the usual finishings.

local_single_carolyn friedlander

local_single detail_carolyn friedlander

Kona mango on the back with ideas for quilting.

local_single back_carolyn friedlander

local_single back detail_carolyn friedlander

Then we’ve got some yellow with House no. 3.

local quilt_yellow single_carolyn friedlander

And plum.

local quilt_plum_carolyn friedlander

local quilt_plum detail_carolyn friedlander

I am massively into the plum and gold fabric in the house on the left. Glorious I tell you.

fun day at the expo.

Posted on March 15, 2013 by carolynfriedlander

I had a great time yesterday at the expo–especially teaching my class. Everyone caught on quickly and did beautiful work.
No blood and no tears.
Good deal.

Deep in fabric-selection thought.

Got one done!

Nice having a neighbor to borrow some green (kona kiwi) from.

Excellent job all!

Other expo sightings included :

A cool jacket.

Akonye Kena

Rad sketchbooks at Some Art Fabric.

The House That Kaffe Built (great name!) by Kathryn Patterson and Rebecca Segura.

I’m a big fan of the creative feather application.

A special Victoria Findlay Wolfe collection from her book. This one was quilted by Angela Walters.

Vintage buttons. Always a fan.

Lots of architextures goodies at Fabric Warehouse. (Thanks guys!)

Holly and Melody from Fabric Warehouse looking so cute.

And two of the Inspire girls.

With their impressive signage. Nice one, Lisa!

And I did come home with a pretty hardcore rotating cutting mat.

It’s got ball bearings.

I’ll probably be grunting while rotating later today.

So fun to see everyone!

#goodtimes

aerial workshop this week.

Posted on March 12, 2013 by carolynfriedlander

And the samples are finally done.

deep breath.

warm aerial architextures_carolyn friedlander

warm aerial architextures detail_carolyn friedlander

There are two other colorways to this gang.

Meet Mr. Cool.

cool aerial architextures_carolyn friedlander

cool aerial architextures detail_carolyn friedlander

And Mr. Grayscale.

grayscale aerial architextures_carolyn friedlander

grayscale aerial architextures detail_carolyn friedlander

Together, they are a group of samples for my workshop (this Thursday!) at the Original Sewing Expo in Lakeland, Florida. (I’m not sure, but there might be a couple spots left.) We’re going to be putting together my Aerial pattern with some architextures.

Everything’s all kitted up and ready to go.

I found myself really enjoying getting these guys together. I’d designed the pattern long before I had my own fabric to sew with, and it was a fun treat to see how it all played out.

a quilt a day: sessoms + architextures.

Posted on March 1, 2013 by carolynfriedlander

sessoms architextures_carolyn friedlander

I’ve always wanted to do a background color gradation with my Sessoms design. Using my architextures and coordinating Kona charm packs made it super simple. If you’ve already got the pattern, here are the additional specs to make your own.

Fabric Reqs :

- 1 architextures + 1 coordinating Kona solids charm packs (80 squares total)

- 1 1/2 yards (Robert Kaufman Essex Denim) for strips and border

- 1 1/2 yards for backing

- 1/2 yard (architextures green trees) for binding

Make according to the pattern, adapting quantities for 80 blocks. Lay out project with 8 blocks across and 10 blocks down.

Finished top : 36 1/2″ x 47″

Next up, I really really really want to make a Sessoms with architextures + Konas as the strips and a green (Kona Fern) for the background. I’ve been obsessed with this one (watch for it in the slide show) for a loooong time.