Hope to see you there!

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We added some “beady” eyes to the spider:

Happy Halloween!

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In my usual ambitious (#delusional) way, I decided to take on a scrappy project even though I should be getting ready for Quilt Market…  However, I did decide to reign it in a bit and make the Confetti Pillow, shown above on the cover of the book.

Hmmm, what fabric to choose? I have plenty of scraps, fat quarters and ‘pieces’ in my sewing room:

Love 30′s Repros!

In the end I decided to make a pillow for my bed to match the Patchwork PDQ quilt that my BFF, Meagan, made for me. She was nice enough to give me her leftover scraps!

Joan has FANTASTIC directions in this book! I quickly pieced the background squares…

Then, I laid out my smaller squares on top and stitched them down:

Joan provides a genius tip for making your pillow form fit perfectly inside the pillow with no hollow corners!  Here is my finished masterpiece:

I love how it turned out, it was fun to make and it looks great on my bed!

I’ve already picked out my next project from this book, “Square Peg, Round Hole”, which has pieced curves. Perfect for our Creative Grids Circle Savvy Ruler!  But, don’t hold your breath – I have to get back to Market prep. We can’t wait to show you our new fabric line, Delightful!

For more information, or to order “Scraps Plus One!”, click here.

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What’s better than a spool of yummy Aurifil Thread?

EIGHT spools of yummy Aurifil Thread!!

Take on the “Show Us Your Poppy Love” Challenge and Win!

Here’s how it works…
Make Something:
Make something from our current fabric line, Poppy Love, in one of three categories: Quilts, Clothing or Small Projects.

Enter Your Photo:
Post a photo of your project on our Facebook page or email to us at info@swirlygirlsdesign.com.

Be sure to tell us which category you are entering!

Deadline:
Midnight (EST) on June 15, 2013

Prizes!:
We, along with a few Swirlettes, will choose a winner in each category.
Winners will be chosen based on creativity,
enthusiastic use of Poppy Love and overall CUTENESS!

Each winner will receive 8 large spools (1422 yds.) of Aurifil 50 wt. thread,
a copy of our new book, Sew Sweet, and
a fat quarter bundle of Delightful, our upcoming fabric line.

Fine Print:
By submitting your photo you grant Swirly Girls Design, Inc. permission
to add your photo to our blog, Facebook page, Twitter feed or Pinterest boards.

There are no fees to enter and Swirly Girls will ship prizes
to you with no shipping charges.

Get Going!
What are you waiting for? Start sending us your pics – we can’t wait to feel the Love!!

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We started with gorgeous batiks from Island Batik. Not only did they supply an assortment of fabrics for the pincushions, they also provided 10 batik door prizes for our end-of-cruise party.

Quilters Dream batting sent a sample of their Sweet Dreams cotton stuffing for each quilter, which was the perfect amount for the pincushion. And here are they lucky prize-winners of the battings sent as door prizes.

Oh, and see that hand-stitching on the strawberry tops? That would be Aurifil thread, our favorite! We used the 12 wt. for the hand-stitching in this project. We also used the 12 wt. in this little hand embroidery project designed by Susan just for the cruise.

You may know that we are located in the Richmond, Virginia, area, but did you know that we have teamed up with two other area designers? Karen DuMont, of Karie Patch Designs and Laura Blanchard of Plum Tree Quilts live near us,  and we have put together a traveling trunk show featuring quilts from all of us, “Quilts on the Go!”. (OK, here’s an interesting fact: Laura and I both worked at the same quilt shop, though not at the same time, the same shop that Susan ended up buying, and all four of us have taught classes there. Small world?) Karen and Laura both generously provided patterns for all the quilters – you can see some of them with the Island Batik prizes.

Here is a picture of the quilt we designed for the cruise, made from fat quarters.

The circles were cut using the Circle Savvy ruler, fused to the pieced quilt top, then top-stitched. Our friends at Therm-O-Web provided their lightest paper-backed fusible web for this project, Feather Lite. It is light enough to stay supple, even with large areas in the quilt. One lucky quilter won a collection of many Therm-O-Web products!

And then there is the fabric. Susan and I are licensed designers with Michael Miller Fabrics. Everyone made a thread-catcher using our Poppy Love fabrics. This one was made with our Garden Charm print in the Vibrant colorway!

We provided 2 lucky quilters with fat-quarter bundles of the line. And Michael Miller sent yummy collections of their cotton coutures and fat quarter bundles as doorprizes.

Kelly Ann added loads of prizes too! And as the grand prize give-away, Susan and I included this Baker’s Dozen quilt from our Think Fast! book.

Between being pampered on the ship, all the exclusive projects designed just for this cruise, the lovely ports of call, and the generous support of our friends and associates, it was a magical week. And to top it off, we made so many new friends!

We had such a good time, that by the time we left the ship, plans were under way to cruise again next year with Michelle and Quilt Retreat at Sea! Kelly Ann will be the shop sponsor again – and this time, we’ll be leaving out of New Orleans, sailing on Royal Caribbean’s Serenade of the Seas. If you’ve ever thought about taking a quilting cruise, check it out!

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If the tide were any higher, I’m not sure our ship would have made it under this bridge:

While still in the Chesapeake,  we passed the ruins of Fort Carroll – built before the Civil War, abandoned after WWI.

We traveled through the Hampton bridge-tunnel complex late that night, then out into the Atlantic!

If you haven’t tried a quilting cruise, it works like this: at-sea days are spent in class with friends, old and new, and port days are on your own. We split our quilters into two groups, some working on sewing machines in the conference room

(here’s a peek of the fabrics used),

while the rest started on hand-sewn projects in one of the many lounges.

 Some of the ladies making thread catchers. I should have a few of those in my sewing room – I always seem to be wearing my threads!

 Everyone got fabric from our Poppy Love fabric line! And almost all our projects made use of the Creative Grids Circle Savvy ruler (yep, the one Susan and I designed).

 After two fun filled days, we docked at our first port – San Juan, Puerto Rico. My husband Jim and I went on a 2 hour walking tour of Old San Juan.

 What a beautiful city! A view of the Fort as we entered the harbor.

Our tour guide pointed out the smallest house in the city: that little yellow one, where an alley used to be!

There’s a beautiful path outside the fort, the sentry towers along the fort walls, the Governor’s Mansion, lots of fountains and sculptures, and so much history! We saw the house where Ponce de León lived, the churches, hidden courtyards – I had a hard time paying attention to all the guide was saying and taking photos at the same time!

Our tour ended just after the sun went down, and we made our way back to the ship

We set sail for St. Thomas – stay tuned for Cruising – Part 2!

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First Stop: Quilting Adventures in Richmond, Virginia. All shops have lovely fabric selections, but there is a decidedly art-quilt flavor at QA. There are doll-making classes, Artist Trading Card swaps, lots of wool and cross-stitch supplies too.

 I love batiks, and there are lots to choose from, along with plenty of inspiration, kits and classes.

Next stop: Sew Refreshing, a new shop in Mechanicsville.

We found a great selection of (our favorite!) Aurifil thread here, including these beautiful vareigated colors.

And lovely hand-dyed yarn. Some day I’ll be knitting socks – it’s never too early to start your yarn stash, right?

And hard to resist all the solids – modern quilts are calling!

Last stop, Quilter’s Corner, in Midlothian – I worked there for years, and Susan used to own it before we dove full-time into the Swirly World.

In addition to a wide range of beautiful fabrics,

 Quilter’s Corner is also our local Brother sewing machine dealer. You can get your fabrics, sewing and embroidery machines, and classes all in one spot!

We all came home with a few more fabrics, patterns and goodies. Local quilt shops – can you think of a better place to find inspiration and supplies for your next project?

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Last I checked there were at least 80 stunning, saturated colors to choose from and this fabric is the softest, most impressive cotton that I have ever stitched through.

We have used Cotton Couture in several of our quilts, including “Insider Trading“:

And “Cut Up” featured in the Winter 2012 edition of Generation Q Magazine:

Our quilt design, “Preppy” (featuring Cotton Couture), was chosen for Quilters Newsletter‘s Best Fat Quarter Quilts edition which is on newsstands now.

We chose six shades of purple and a gray background for this fun, lap size quilt:

Click on the photo to enlarge and check out the amazing quilting from Virginia Longarm!

If you are interested in a kit for this quilt, they are available now at Fat Quarter Shop!

Do yourself a SOLID – ask for Cotton Couture at your local quilt shop and use them in your next quilting project!

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In addition to the oodles of quilts that we made, we teamed up with Bonnie from Fishsticks Designs and she whipped up these adorable items:

This is The Playdate Bag, full of pockets and ready to go! We love how Bonnie used reverse colorways of our Garden Charm print. The pattern also includes instructions for a child’s backpack.

Bonnie featured the Seaside Stripe and Retro Rose prints in these adorable outfits.  Use her Buttons & Buckles Overall pattern to make the boy or girl version.

Last, but not least, is the Everyday Camp Shirt, featuring Whimsy Windows. Aren’t these boys adorable??

You can order patterns from Fishsticks Designs at www.fishsticksdesigns.com. If you are not inclined to sew, click on the “Sewn for You” tab to have something made.

Are you creating with Poppy Love? We’d love to see your projects! Email us at info@swirlygirlsdesign.com or post at www.facebook.com/swirlygirls!

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Our studio will be CLOSED from Dec. 21 – Jan. 1.
We will be checking our phone messages and email,
so leave a message and we will get back to you.

HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS!
Susan & Christine

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