Face Branding

Face Branding
A buzz word right now is "branding." Part of branding is connecting a face to a brand - getting your face out there. I ask– where was this novel idea 20 years ago before gravity had completely taken over??? I am never at the right place at the right time.


Moda, being the savvy company that they are, decided to have the designers make a small project that they could feature in ads with the face of the designer.
Moda hired a photographer to come to fall market to take pictures of each of us designers with our projects.

You may remember Camille of Thimbleblossoms was the first to be featured in a "get your face out there" ad, with this adorable pincushion - still available on Moda Bake Shop.

Lucky Camille. She is still young and adorable.
Although, I may have, at one time, been as young as Camille...

I was never as cute as she is. :-(

For my project I thought it would be fun to have a "sewing companion" to set by your machine, or on a shelf nearby.

With that thought Owliva was born.
The size of her eyes certainly enables her to "watch" over you.
She could also be used as a pincushion -

if you can bear to poke her with pins.

This ad can be found in this month's Quilter's Newsletter,

featuring Owlivia and my face.

(You know what they say—after awhile people start looking like their pets.)

If you would like to make, Owlivia go to Moda Back Shop for a tutorial.

I am also offering a kit for Owlivia.
The price of the kit is $12.50 (plus shipping).

The kit includes pattern, 6 fabrics from my Frolic line of fabric, ric rac, cotton batting and two buttons.

All you will need to add is your favorite stuffing - batting, play sand, walnut shells, etc.

Go here to order the kit.

So....What do you think the next marketing trend will be???

I am hoping it is something involving feet - and I don't mean crow's feet.

From my heart,

Sandy

Happy As A Clam

I am Happy as a clam.

Why am I happy as a clam?
I have just finished computer generating

my quilts using my 2010 Fall fabric.
For me generating quilts is a pain in the neck.
Not because I do not like generating,

I love the challenge of taking forty 5" Charm Squares

and seeing what I can create.
Generating for me is literally a pain in the neck.

The pain in the neck comes from having
to tilt my head back to see the computer screen,
thus causing the pain in my neck.

(Yes, I am of the age of "bifocals required".)

Therefore when my quilts are done - I am happy as a clam.
The solution would be to take a pair of old frames

and have the reading part of my prescription put in the lenses.
I just cannot remember to do this.

Lord knows I have plenty of old frames laying around.
(I have a bit of a glasses fetish.)

Some of your might be wondering - What exactly is computer generating a quilt.
At Moda they like to be able to show the shop owners what patterns will be available using each line of fabric. This enables them to order fabric more efficiently.
Since the sales reps show the fabric on paper - before we actually have cloth to make the quilts - our only option is to "make" them on the computer.

How do you make a quilt on the computer?
Kind of like you make a real quilt.
Moda scans each strike-off (samples of fabric the mill sends us to approve the color and pattern). They then send me a disc of all of the scanned images.

Just like a real quilt the first thing you do is cut the quilt.
The images are usually about 6" X 8". If I am making a Charm Pack™ quilt I have to cut each of the pieces to a size of 5" X 5". How do I do this? I simply crop the picture to 5" X 5". If I am making a Layer Cake™ quilt I have to "piece" the fabric to make a 10" X 10" piece.

After I have "cut" the quilt. I start "piecing", simply by moving the scanned images into the position needed.

The name of the line is Awesome.
What season is more awesome than fall?
In my eyes, by far the prettiest color palette of all the seasons.

Autumn Glow, Pumpkin, Moss, Bark, Yarrow and Red Maple.
Below are the quilts that I generated.

Quilt using the panel.

I did a squirrel and acorns because our yards at home and the lake

are filled with oak trees, acorns and squirrels.

Charm Pack pattern

Jelly Roll pattern

Layer Cake pattern



A pattern called Cosmos.



This one I named Kaleidoscope.
It is easier than it looks.
(Lots of strip piecing.)

If you are a shop owner and you are interested in seeing this line, contact you Moda rep. The reps now have this line in their hands.

If you are not a shop owner you will have to wait until July to see this line.

Sorry to be such a tease...

but arriving in stores now - Frolic.

Did you ever wonder where the saying Happy as a Clam came from?

I assumed it was because a clam always looks like he/she is smiling.

Well I did some research and I found out the original saying was " happy as a clam in high tide". A clam is happy at high tide because you cannot dig for clams at high tide. They therefore as assured of not becoming some one's meal.

Now you know.

From my heart,

Sandy

Blog Hop Day 2

It seems we have a problem with the templates not posting the right size.

PLEASE FOLLOW THESE STEPS TO DOWNLOAD AND PRINT TEMPLATES:
Click on the link to open template. Mine opens up at the top of the blog so you may have to scroll up. At the top of the template screen there is an arrow. (beside the word share) Click on it and download file to your desktop. Then print the templates from your desktop file. The page is 12" X 18 " so if you are using 8 1/2" X 11" paper you will have to tile. The bulb should mesure about 7 1/2" across.
So sorry about this. - Falls under the " too stupid to blog" category. :)

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog. For those of you who do not know anything about me - probably most of you, you can read all about me on my bio, to your right.
I am really in "busy" mode as far as designing goes. I recently finished my fall 2010 line of fabric named Awesome. I named it Awesome because I think Autumn is our most awesome season. Look for this to arrive in stores in August.

My newest line of fabric to hit the stores is Essence.

#468 Let's Eat.

You still have time to make these placemats before Thanksgiving dinner.
They are quick and easy, as they use a pre-printed panel from the Essence line.

#462 Wind Power
This pattern is really quick and easy as it uses the stack and
slice method of piecing and an Essence Layer Cake.

Next to arrive will be La'Mour.



Followed by Nautical and Nice.



Frolic was introduced at fall market. It will be hitting the shops in January.



I also introduced 9 quick and easy wool projects.
Go to my Website http://www.piecesfrommyheart.net/ to check these out.
They are posted under "What's New".

Today is my day to be Project Designer.

Since we are all blogging about Christmas it has put me in the gift
giving spirit. So today my gift to everyone visiting my blog is this tablemat - which my graphic artist named Bulb-a-licious.

Some assembly required.
Well maybe more than some.
Well okay, I guess you have to make the whole darn thing yourself.
But…. It takes just a few hours to make.
And….
The pattern is free. (Okay I guess my gift to you is the pattern.)
find the template here.



The instructions you will find below.

This projects uses fabrics from my Crazy 8 line of fabric.
Wool felt is used for the applique.

Finished size: 20" X 27"

Things you will need:
1/2 Yd. cream dot fabric (background) Moda #17460-13
1/4 Yd. green plaid fabric (borders) Moda #17458-26
1/4 Yd. red dot fabric (top border and binding) Moda #17460-21
Red wool (bulb)
Green wool (holly and dots)
Gold wool (bulb top)
7/8 Yd. jumbo off white rick rack
2/3 Yd. fabric (backing) Moda #17454-12
Embroidery floss to match wool
Freezer paper
Disappearing marking pen

Cut the following:

Cream dot - 1 pieces 14 1/2" X 16 1/2" (background)
Green plaid - 2 pieces 3 1/2" X 16 1/2" (side borders)
2 pieces 3 1/2" X 20 1/2" (top and bottom borders)
Red dot - 1 piece 5 1/2" X 20 1/2" (top border)

Embroidery
1. Using a disappearing marker, trace the bulb hook onto background fabric.
2. Using 6 strands of red embroidery floss and a backstitch, embroider hook.




Appliqué
1. Trace bulb, bulb top and holly onto the dull side of freezer paper.
2. Iron each object onto the appropriate color of wool.
3. Cut objects out one traced lines.
4. Cut a piece of rick rack a little bigger than your bulb.
5. Pin rick rack to the center of the bulb, turning raw edges to the back of the bulb.
6. Using three strands of red embroidery floss, and backstitch, stitch rick rack to bulb.


7. Pin all wool objects in place.

8. Using 2 strands of matching embroidery floss and a tack stitch, appliqué each object in place.
9. Using 3 strands of green embroidery floss and a backstitch, embroidery veins in holly.

Green Borders
1. Stitch a border piece to each 16 1/2" side of the background.
2. Stitch a border piece to the top and bottom of the background.

Red Dot Border and Rick Rack
1. Cut a piece of rick rack long enough to fit across quilt.
2. Pin rick rack in place over seam allowance.
3. Pin red dot border in place over rick rack. Stitch in place.

Back, quilt and bind your quilt as you please.

The topic for the day is: Special food/cookie you made as a kid or was tradition.

Every Christmas my mom would make "soft" popcorn balls. Other peoples were more hard and crunchy. (Oh no is this starting to sound like the Saturday Night Live "Schweddy Balls" episode???) I certainly hope not!

I preferred mom's popcorn balls and every year I make these popcorn balls.

Please read the recipe carefully. I have a friend who tried this recipe, but she misread the directions. She thought she needed to pop 6 quarts of popcorn. She had grocery bags full of popped popcorn sitting all around the kitchen. Just as she was running out of room to put the popped popcorn, her husband walked in and set her straight. I have always wondered how she thought one bag of melted marshmallows would cover all of that popcorn????

Mom's Popcorn Balls

6 quarts of popped popcorn
1 lb. bag of large marshmallows
1/4 C. sugar
1 stick butter
1 C. red and green M&Ms - Optional (mom did not do this - it is something I added.

Pop popcorn
Salt popcorn

Place marshmallows, butter, and sugar in a bowl. (Do not add the M&Ms)
Cook in microwave until melted, stopping to stir a couple of times.

Pour the melted marshmallow mixture over the popcorn and stirred until evenly coated.
If you are adding M&Ms you have to wait a little while before adding them.
This is where it gets tricky - do it too soon and your M&Ms melt - wait to long and you will have one huge popcorn ball stuck in your bowl. Good luck.

Wet hands with cold water and form into balls.
Wrap in cellophane and tie with a ribbon or fabric scrap.

Now hop along to the other designer's blogs - GE Designs, Pieces of My Heart, Atkinson Designs, Pat Sloan, Anka's Treasures,Pam Kitty Morning, New Leaf Stitches, Whimsicals, This 'N' That, Miss Rosies,Rosebud's Cottage, Linda Lum DeBono to check out their special food or tradition.

Be sure to check in tomorrow. The Project Designer is Terry Atkinson. I can't wait to see what fun project she will be making. http://www.terryatkinson.typepad.com/

The topic of the day will be - Gifts, a story about a favorite gift received or given.

Happy Hopping.

From my heart,

Sandy

We Have A Winner

The contest is over and we have a winner. Well, actually more than one person guessed the right answer.

Edna was the first person to say a "flower cart" so she will win either a Frolic Layer Cake™ or a Jelly Roll™.

I then went to random.com and the winner of the second Layer Cake™ or Jelly Roll™ is Lizzie.
Would each of you please email me your address and your precut preference.

A Flower Cart
I liked your ideas of a frog riding a bike pulling a flower cart -

however, maybe you read wrong - I said I had 7 days to build this not 70 days.

A little about booth set up. This is what we start with.

Once again I forgot to take a picture of my empty booth,

so I took one of Lynn Hagmeirer’s instead.

(Fall’s under the too stupid to blog category.)



This year my booth has a flower shop/fabric shop theme. I apologize for the bad photography.

The end result after working 2 days in a non-air conditioned building - the air is not turned on until the show starts. - The air is again turned off during take down :(

Did I mention the temp here was 94° on set up day

and the humidity was 200% - or some ridiculously high figure.



By now I am really too tired to blog so I will just post some picture with no captions. Sorry it is the best I can do with the few brain cells I left. Hopefully after a good nights sleep my cells will be rejuvenated.

Again I apologize for the bad blog.
Good night.
From my heart,
Sandy