Fastest Holiday Gift Ever!

Add a homemade touch to the standard gift of a bottle of wine by making these classy, linen coasters. Featuring FreeSpirit Cocoon and Jenaveve Linen/Cotton by Valori Wells, this quick gift idea will dress up any table any time.   Click here for directions. Cheers and Happy Holidays!

Faster Holiday Gift Idea! The perfect Hostess gift!

You have one hour till your neighbor’s Holiday gathering and you do not have any idea on what you are going to take as a Hostess gift.  Well, plug in your iron and dust off your machine for this low sew, trendy idea using FreeSpirit Cocoon Linen/Cotton by Valori Wells. A simple topstitched double hem or two, along with raw edge applique pieces adhered with a fusible web and voila, a cute gift you can partner with a plate full of cookies.  Fast, fun and hip.  Click here for directions!

Jenny Doan from Missouri Quilting Company shares with you her Merry Go Round quilt featuring FreeSpirit Wish by Valori Wells charm pack.  One 5" charm pack and some solid white FreeSpirit Designer Essential solid is all it takes to make this awesome quilt.  This quilt is also featured in the Fall issue of Quilting Quickly with Jenny Doan magazine, on sale now!

More Austin Fun -- Remnant fiber [culture]



Here is a MUST go to shop when you are in Austin -- Remnants: fiber [culture]. Urban and youthful, there is a lot of fabric lovin' going on here and Jessica will make certain you fall in love with quilting, sewing and her too! If you are in Austin for QuiltCon stop by and tell her we sent you. She has special events going on throughout the event at her store and also in her booth.

Here is here schedule and address! Stop by and say Hey -- that's what they say down here in Texas!

Thursday, 2/21 from 2 pm - 5 pm

FreeSpirit's Valori Wells shares her art & soul with RFC.

Friday, 2/22 from 1 pm - 4 pm

Alison Glass from Andover Fabrics

Saturday, 2/23 from 2 pm - 5 pmMelody Miller of Kokka Fabrics

In the RFC booth at QuiltCon:

Saturday, 2/23 from 11 am - 1 pm

Meet Alicia Diane Durand, author of Quilts, Tacos and Tattoos!

Yes we are talking about our competitor's here but it is all in the name of fabric and quilting -- plenty of love to go around.

Here is the address to her shop:

10435 Burnet Road, Suite 106, 888-TO-QUILT

What is your New Year's Sewig Resolution? Tell Sew4Home.com and win!

Over the past four weeks we did a series with Sew4Home featuring Ten Collctions and Ten Designers.  Now, there will be TEN WINNERS!  At stake, for those who choose to participate, is 10 yards of fabric for each winner.  We, along with Sew4Home, are offering 100 yards of fabric for the taking.  The fabric represents the twelve projects featured during the series.  Some of the collections are shown here.

Sew4Home.com will randomly select 10 winners posted on the Giveaway story, click here, as well as the other articles within this 4-week series. The first two drawn names will be the "first place" and "second place" winners; these two lucky ducks will get a mystery grab bag of 10 yards of fabric plus an 18-spool thread gift box courtesy of Coats & Clark. The remaining eight winners will each get just (Ha!!! JUST!!!!) the ten yards of fabric.

Click here to read the details on how to enter to win.  TEN people will be randomly selected from everyone who posts a qualifying comment on one or more of the twelve 10 Designers & 10 Collections project articles as of midnight PT February 28, 2013. No purchase necessary to enter. Void where prohibited.

10 & 10 series continues featuring FreeSpirit Novella Rayon!

Scarves continue to be all the rage, lest we get left behind this fashion forward moment.  Sew4Home puts us in the groove using FreeSpirit Novella by Valori Wells rayon fabric to create this scrumptious, very drapey ruffled scarf.  Make one or a dozen. The instructions are here. Don't forget to keep going back to Sew4Home as this series will end in a huge FABRIC giveaway!  Get sewing!

Winners, Winners to enjoy Valori Wells' Coccon!

We did not forget our promise to randomly select six winners to enjoy the beauty of Valori Wells' newest FreeSpirit collection Cocoon.  Without further adieu, our winners of her Cocoon Cotton are Amorette and Judy1522.  Selected to enjoy the incredible softness and beauty of her Cocoon voiles are BarbinMi and Mimi.  Last, but certainly not least, hiyacinth and Beth can create something fantastic from her Cocoon Linen Cotton fabrics. We'd love to see what you create from these fabrics!  Stay tuned because in May we are featuring our own FreeSpirit designer Tula Pink and her edgy new Halloween fabrics called Night Shade, but you have to comment to win.  You'll learn there is an interesting and quite detailed story behind each of her prints.  We'd love for you to  follow us too . . . we "heart" our blogger friends!

Valori Wells trilogy continues; It's giveaway time!

Now, it's time for everyone's favorite part of our monthly "portrait of a designer" series.  Val told us all about how her two, adorable young daughter's inspired her latest fabric collection Cocoon (26 cotton, 7 linen and 7 voile SKUs, delivering in April).  Then our blog tutorial diva, Melissa Peda, gave us some awesome inspriation with her Easy Peasy Pillows.  Valori also offered a handy shopping tote project, perfect for doing your part to save the planet. 

 

Now, the moment you all love so much.  It's time to share the beauty and vibrancy of Valori's Cocoon collection.  According to her, "For myself as an artist I feel like I am coming out of a cocoon. Finding my path and my balance with my work, my family and myself." 

How do you find balance in your life? Does your quilting and sewing give you the needed relief from reality and send you into a creative, stress-free world?  Tell us about how your sewing helps you tranform your life or the lives of other, much like a butterfly emerging from its Cocoon.  Two commenators will be chosen at random to win six, one yard cuts from each substrate -- 2 for Cotton, 2 for Linen and 2 for Voile (that's six total if my math is correct)! Winner's will be announced here on Monday, April 30. 

Cocoon Tutorial

Here is a great tutorial that is 'Easy Peasy' for your quick project liking. These pillows will surely put some color in your home for the summer months ahead. Cocoon is offered in three great substrates that can all translate to pillows very well. Voile, for a VERY soft look and feel, linen which is a light weight that would compliment your porch and then our standard cotton weight which is great for any area of the house.

Thanks to Melissa P for bringing us this great pillow tutorial. Enjoy!

Cocoon by Valori Wells, for your pleasure!

Editor's Note: It's April! Welcome FreeSpirit Artist Valori Wells and her newest collection Cocoon!

 

Hello……Happy Spring!!! I am excited to be a guest blogger for FreeSpirit Fabrics and really excited to tell you about my newest collection Cocoon (26 Cotton SKUs, 7 Voile SKUs, 7 Linen Cotton SKUs).



My Butterfly Vi



My Butterfly Olivia

Cocoon…..it has so many meanings for me. I have spent numerous summers trying to capture the unique beauty of the butterfly with my camera. My love of flowers and butterflies has passed down to my girls! Since my oldest was two she has asked for her summer birthday to be “butterflies”….she is six now and still loves to run through our wild flowers looking for them. As her younger sister follows her every move she has taken a liking to the beauties also. We spend so much time in our garden, loving the flowers, eating the vegetables and watching the friendly flyers visit. It was a given at some point that I would create a fabric with butterflies. For myself as an artist I feel like I am coming out of a cocoon. Finding my path and my balance with my work, my family and myself. This collection is part of my growth as an artist. 

Cocoon Cotton

At Spring Quilt Market (trade show), I am going to be introducing Simply Made Summer, a weekly blog (stitchinpostinsisters.typepad.com) with free patterns, project ideas and other yummy things for the summer. Simply Made Summer will begin the first week of June and last for 12 weeks. I love summer, it is so short here in Central Oregon. Plus, with the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show and Quilters Affair Classes my time is even more limited so we take full advantage of the long sunny days. I thought it would be fun to have something new every week to entice your creativity and show you a bit of my life and love.

Make April Little Tote by Valori Wells

 

My studio is a buzz with Cocoon projects…..I thought I would share a few with you. I hope to hear from you this summer!!!!

 

Cocoon Linen Cotton

Cocoon Voile



Lucky winners of FreeSpirit Fresh Cut are . . .

We randomly selected our winners for FreeSpirit Fresh Cut fabrics, by Heather Bailey. The winners of Fresh Cut Flannel are DanaK-WaterPenny, Columbus, OH; Rebeckah Austin, Orange County, CA; Jennie P, North Carolina.  Winners of Fresh Cut Laminate fabrics Missy from Missy Stitches; Meredith and SueSmileAlot.  Round of applause please!

Watch in April for our installment from Valori Wells who will talk about her new FreeSpirit Collection, Cocoon.  Happy Sewing!

Thanks for Playing Along in our 4 Days of Spring has Sprung Celebration!



FreeSpirit Classica Sateen by Annette Tatum



Phew, what a week. So many beautiful new collections, it is hard to decide where to begin creating.  We hope you enjoyed our 4 days of Spring has Sprung giveaway.  More importantly we hope you enjoyed getting a sneak peak of some our artist's new collections and that you have tons of new projects in mind for each one.



Rowan Gypsy Caravan by Amy Butler Stash



The winner of the six, one yard cuts of Farmington by Martha Negley is Jan from Southern California.  She lives in a town called Murrieta, surrounded by light and nature. Wonderful for creativity, according to Jan.



Rowan Farmington by Martha Negley



Come back next week when we get back to our Designer postings.  We will finish our FreeSpirit Fresh Cut by Heather Bailey trilogy.  Next month, we will hear from Valorie Wells herself.  Happy sewing!

FreeSpirit Cocoon by Valori Wells

A Spring Time Giveaway Now through March 22!

FreeSpirit Cocoon by Val Wells, available April

Spring is springing up all over. With the newness of spring comes many new fabric collections just arriving or soon to be at your local quilt shops.  Take a look at FreeSpirit Cocoon by Valori Wells in Cotton, voile and Cotton linen blend, available in April.

To celebrate the springing up of Spring, stop by our blog everyday between now and March 22 to view some of our newest collections and comment to win.  Today, one random winner will be selected to win six, one yard cuts of Val's Cocoon voile fabric.

So, take a look around.  Revel in the newness of Spring and beautiful new fabrics and make a statement. Is Spring your favorite season and will you come out of your Cocoon and Celebrate the Freshness of Spring with FreeSpirit!

Design Challenge Garments Revealed, Vote for your Favorite

Ta Da! Today, on AM Northwest television show, four up and coming fashion designers unveiled their fashion creations as part of the show's six week Design Challenge.  Each week the designers will be given a new challenge and judged by a panel of experts including sewing expert Patti Palmer.  The "project runway" type competition is sponsored by Fabric Depot and featured FreeSpirit and Rowan fabrics. FreeSpirit designerValori Wells appeared as a guest judge today.

Amy, sun dress with cape was created from FreeSpirit Power Pop collection by Jenean Morrison; Power Pinkerton PWJM057 Orange, Radio City PWJM051 Orange and Sweet PWJM052 Strawberry

Gerry's beach inspired ensemble of shorts, halter top featuring a Celtic knot detail and short jacket used FreeSpirit Tea Cakes by Verna Mosquera; Sugary Stripe VM34 Blue Eyes and a voile from FreeSpirit Wrenly by Valori Wells; Wildfield VVW07 Cobalt.

Natalya's red-carpet worthy look of a two-piece ensemble pencil skirt and midrif top was made from FreeSpirit Happiness by Kathy Davis; Sugar Snaps PWKD036 Indigo and Rowan Premier Lord by Dan Bennett; Fan PWDB012 Blue and Maize PWDB011 Green.

Lindsay created straight leg print pants with fitted shirt and accent headand using Rowan's Kaffe Fassett  Babaganoush PWGP124 in Umber, Philip Jacobs Begonia Columns PJ44 Grey and Premier Lord by Dan Bennett Fan PWDB012 Black.

Vote for your favorite by clicking here. The winner will receive overall grand prize of a Pfaff sewing machine and other sewing-related prizes.

Fabrics featured on AM Northwest Design Challenge

Fabric Depot, Portland, OR, has partnered with KATU-TV and its AM Northwest show to sponsor Design Challenge. Four up and coming designers from The Art Institute in  Portland, were selected to cut, drape, pin, style and sew a collection of six garments in as many weeks based on weekly challenges.  Sewing expert, American Sewing Guild Honoree and Portland native Patti Palmer, owner of Palmer/Pletsch, introduces the weekly challenge and is also one of the judges.

This week, the designers were challenged to select three prints from FreeSpirit or Rowan fabrics along with a McCall's Pattern and told . . . make it work. Judging for this weeks challenge will be on Friday and FreeSprit Designer Valori Wells will be on hand as a guest judge.  Viewers can weigh in and select their favorite garment as the designers will vie for an overall grand prize of a Pfaff sewing machine and other sewing-related prizes including a Viewer's Choice award. Stay tuned, as we follow their progress and fabric selections this week!

Make a fun summer hat from Jenaveve Linen

Here is a fun summer hat you can make using Valori Wells' 100% Cotton Linen Jenaveve. It's featured in the current issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine, on sale now. Compliment the hat with a linen sundress or walking shorts. Other great ideas can be found in Val and Jean Wells' book Jenaveve.