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I am mid-thigh deep in Quilt Market preparation, layered in with book completion, final new pattern tweaking and what feels like everything else. I am only now getting sample yardage of my newest fabric collection, Field Study , which was suppose to be here in its entirety about 3 weeks ago.  So sewing it up in all that we had planned for booth samples has been interesting to say the least, as we have changed plans about 82.3 times now.  With less than half the time to sew that  I normally have, I've pulled in twice the help and every day there is some new plan about what exactly we are sewing depending which of the 36 total quilting fabrics has arrived.  Because there is such a rush, the mill is sending them piece by piece, sometimes 6, sometimes only 3 prints at a time.  It. Is. Kooky.  But somehow, it is keeping all the creating spontaneously chaotic in an entirely good way.  Like this little skirt might not have come together just like this yester...

I am happy you guys enjoyed some of the foodie love I offered yesterday (and to answer a Q, that table linen is 4 yards of gorgeous fabric that I found in NYC last fall... cannot remember the name of the store, but it was a shop in the garment district that is nothing but linen). I was thinking today about my go-togethers. I have favorite movie genres that I pair with various types of handwork that depend on the focus needed for each.  I should make a chart sometime (it's right there in my head, I just need to write it out). Jeff and I have exhausted almost every single British period piece available in the Netflix instant streaming offerings.  We were so sad to come to the end of all of the Catherine Cookson novel adaptations (where even the low-budget ones are 10x better than most anything on the television).  All the drama.  So entertaining.  The typical British kind.  Wealth.  Poverty. Getting knocked up out of wedlock, etc.  (Why do we rela...

Whether or not I had the time to make these bags myself, I knew they needed to be made. I love having pals that will take on some sewing for me when I am struck by such a bug. I did take the great personal pleasure however in picking out the materials for her. Then poof. Done. They are a ribbon -y version of the Art Student Tote , and I daresay lurvely. Here's another had-to-happen-happiness in spite of my current workload. Thank you to Pierrette, my little gif fairy for that one. Happy Spring friends, xo, Anna

I tend to always come home from anywhere with a pile or ten of new fabric. I often get asked whether I buy fabric since I have so much of my own. Funny. Of course. Lots. I also get asked what I like to buy. I enjoy sewing with my fabric, naturally- it really helps me design actually- but anyone wants to sew with more than one designer. I seem to almost exclusively buy Denyse , Heather , Liberty , and several Japanese prints-usually Kokka . They all tend to be so different from anything that I make that I am quite certain that is what draws me in. There is a smaller scale to most all of them, but also a similar color sensibility to my own fabrics. So both of those aspects typically means they pair really well with my own prints. Plus, I can't help but love the work of dear friends who I admire for so many reasons to begin with. (It's extra fun when you can just trade stacks, as Denyse and I did in Palm Springs). The above curation has been gathered for quilts for th...

So I'm a little proud of this, when you consider birthday cake situations I have suffered in the past . (But thankfully barely recovered from.) My sweet Eleni turns 8 today. Pffufff. The time. She do pass us by. Eleni has invited a pair of friends to come home on the bus with her today. And together with her sister we're going to have a painting party. It was Isabela's (secret) idea to make Eleni a paint palette cake. Genius. Thank you Isabela. Talk about an easy design to execute! I did get a little fancy with her name on the side of the cake, but I was staring down at a plate full of beautifully colorful paints, erhhh icing plops. I had to do something besides eat them. So I painted on the side with a butter knife. And with "painterly" as the theme, I allowed myself not to worry about perfection. One helpful tip: etching her name in the white frosting with a toothpick first. Anyway, I think now I need to buy pretzel rods and black licorice string...

Next on my list of what I am looking forward to this year, is a personal project. Well as personal as sharing ideas with thousands of pals could be. If you're reading this blog, you know I have a blog. Right. You may not know that I have a mailing list as well. I do. Now you know at least two things about me. Also, I've mentioned this before I think, but in general my mailing list is to let folks know about sales, new releases, more business-y. The blog, as you know, is.... uhhh, I don't know, but not especially business-y. But even with the few number of mailing mailers that I send out, I am always like, oohhhh, I don't want to bother anyone, is 5 times a year to many mailings....ohhh I don't know.... Anyhooers, I've decided to be a little more regularlike with my emailings and hopefully make them more inspirational and fun too. Today I sent my mailing list a fun "palette play" layout where I have chosen some beautiful Behr paint shades to ...

Suffice it to say I am thrilled . Ranking quite high on the list of things that I am excited about for 2012 are these Needlepoint kits that I developed together with Anchor, UK. For now I am putting them in the "looking forward to" category because I don't have a final final final answer yet as to when they should be shipping- though I believe it to be within the next month or so. We will carry them in the shop , and I am sure that other shops will be picking them up as well, though perhaps not so wide spread as my fabrics. (And woops it appears as though a few prints from my next collection are showing themselves in the top photo (places hand over "o" shaped mouth, eyes widen).) These kits seem so much more available in Europe in general (where they are referred to more as "tapestry" than needlepoint). I am hoping to help turn that tide a bit, that these types of goods, and in fresh design offerings, will become more available here for us. The ...

If I were to only ever go on about love of family, or admiration for the act of pulling needle and thread through fabric I might misrepresent myself. There are actual things, you know as in they don't speak or hug .... (or do they?)... but things , that make me happy. Anyway, this week feels like a bonus week. Like another MrsPacman appeared on the screen and told me to keep playing (did you know I held the high score at the local roller skating rink in the 6th grade for like 3 weeks? Why do I put such information in question form, as though there is a chance you would know?) Back to my bonus round. Juliana was meant to be boarding her flight back to school right about this very minute. But a few days ago she decided ohhhh, let's just switch it to Thursday. So we did, and that was great, though it cost me a little to switch it (I would spend an embarrassingly dumb amount to have her for an extra hour.) Yesterday when all the other kids were off to their schools and Ju...

It is likely just me, but today I feel like anything is a better thing with some hand stitching. I have been cross stitching for days now on a very exciting design, but all on black Aida cloth, which is a challenge on the peepers. I've spent a lot of time on my flickr groups the past few days looking through everything that was made over the past year with my fabrics. So. Much. Beauty. You guys are amazing. I looked through, too, lots of shots of things that I made- searching for my favorites- from market and then some. I just keep going back to this one. Its just a detail of my velveteen Bonne Nuit quilt, but I love it so very much. I really didn't have time to stop to notice it, hurried as I was before market preparations to get it done. I knew I enjoyed it but it was hardly a relaxed, easy going creation, it was all on fast forward, and lovely, but fast. Now, though, those earnest blue stitches, working their way around anything in their path, activating the space ...

Hullo there. I meant to get photos from quilt market uploaded, edited, flickred and blogged yesterday but the heavens opened, shining rays of unspeakable light on my sewing table and told me I should quilt instead. So I obeyed. (Seriously look! I never get those cool sun flare shots.) For real, I did have the house all to myself for a solid 6 hours so I moved my sewing machine downstairs next to the design wall and patched and patched and patched. And as it happens its a new quilt pattern for my Janome projects called Patchwork Prism. Hmm. hope you're having a sunny weekend, xoxoAM

I left Tennessee with it still feeling like Summer and came back 5 days later to Fall. The slow, colorful turn towards cool weather and dry air is welcome and beautiful. I left Roman stringing words together, almost all of it in the tone of a question (like, do I have this right? ) and I came back 5 days later to some very concise sentences with not a hint of waver or question in his voice. I left the studio with a calm feeling of getting prepared for Quilt Market at just the right pace, and came back 5 days later feeling 2 months behind (???). But it is good. Bon. Bonne? Not done yet! I'm sharing a glimpse of a velveteen + embroidery project. I am working on two embroidery collections to be released before the end of the year, and hopefully to be previewed as in depth as possible at market. Embroidering in a hurry is the paradoxical happiness/stress that I have found myself in several times over the past months. But somehow pairing embroidery with anything is keeping me int...

Letting the photos do most of the talking today pals :) The above patchwork blanket is called "Log Mansion" which I'll have a free pattern out for in a few weeks, though it really is just a gianormous log cabin block. This particular piece has no batting, simply backed with voile and hand quilted for a light weight layer.... like a receiving blanket for adults. Why should babies have all the comforts? have a cozy weekend, xoxoAnna

There are so many different ways that I want to share how to use the fabrics in this upcoming mini launch that it has nearly rendered me verbally paralyzed (should I just say mute there? speechless? stumped?- see I'm messed up). My heart is beating fast right now, because I am afraid that I'll forget to say something obvious or useful about them and you will be denied the glorious everythingness of this fabric. So lets go through this a little at a time from the beginning. These are what I call Loulouthi Needleworks . They are called Loulouthi because the imagery and the color palettes were derived from my Loulouthi collection. In essence they are no different than any printed cotton that I design, however they are a full 58" wide ( wow Anna that's superwide! I know.) But they are called Needleworks , because the artwork printed on the cloth is comprised of tiny little X's. This print is called Crossing Paths and it is essentially a series of borders stret...

Enter Spinning Stars Quilt. I've designed this new free pattern for my Loulouthi fabrics, which you can grab off my MAKE page, and we've prepared kits over here for each of the palettes. This one above is a throw size, made up of 9 blocks, and from the Juliana palette. I hand tied the throw with a pretty aqua pearl cotton, at every corner and every center of each block. Hand tying is fun for me, quicker than hand quilting and I like the fuzzy little knots poking up across the surface of the patchwork. Sort of silly almost, but still pulled together. I aspire to be just like a hand tied quilt. (Anyway, YES, I know! Where are those stinkin' thread kits ? I'm twiddling my thumbs along with some of you, but I was told end of June, so it should really be any day now.) While I do love the messy, mix-y , patch-y of a quilt, I decided to play around with some solids too. Its amazing how different these quilts with the solid bands are. And how the solid influences the ...

Guesses his birthday bib is pretty cool, erhh that could be the lollipop talkin'. Thinks, yea that is a really good lollipop. Mmmm. Likes turning 2. 2's his favorite. Bets you wish you had a lollipop. Yep. Its not a big deal, but its pretty good. Bib is okay, he guesses. (.0002 seconds later) NO NO NO NO, I hate it, I hate the bib, bibs are for babies, what do you think I am, A BABY? Mom. Chill. What the heck. Don't need a bib. I'm 2. 2-ness aside, Roman's mom would like to share some more wishful thinking for you. These are the Loulouthi laminate prints for willing babies, toddlers and general all around people everywhere. We hope you love them (at least for a minute or two). Back to the other 207 pictures I took during 3 minutes with one bib, one lollipop, and one very grown-up (sniff) 2-year-old boy. Happy, happy birthday to my sweet boy. xoxo, Anna

Voiles. 6 of them this time around in colors that I feel like wearing these days. The scale on the "Clippings" (rose, butterfly) print is about half the size that it is in the quilting cotton varieties . I think its nice to have it smaller particularly for clothing. Here are a few shots of Eleni wearing the "Clippings" print in Sherry as part of her Easter dress that I am (finally) managing to post. This quick little design is sort of a glorified pillowcase dress with a solid voile lining and the beautiful embroidered ribbon for the front fixed sash. We thought it would be extra chic to have the draw-thru shoulder ties only bow up on one side. Oui. You'll see these fabrics in action more when I share a new sewing pattern called Painted Portrait Blouse & Dress that I'm working on. Here is the official write-up for my Loulouthi inspirations: Loulouthi is a treasure box of all that I love about flowers and fabric coming together in form and inspirat...

Juliana palette Isabela Palette Eleni Palette Wish I could manage some lovely words to go along with the layouts of Loulouthi quilting cottons today, but am about to hop in the shower and then head to the second day of Quilt Market here in Salt Lake. Wish you were here, hope to share more later so that you can feel like you are! xoxo, AM