I may have mentioned in an earlier post that I would like to start posting a pattern of the week.  I can’t post what I’m currently working on, as I have to wait until fall market to make the reveal.  But, I’d like to still share some of my designs so you all can get a feel for what my style is.  I also love to make my patterns over again in different color combinations, and this gives me a chance to share those as well.  If only my patterns had giant covers and I could show many possible color combinations . . . .  The shops may not like trying to display them and the consumers might not like paying for this, so I think this format will work.  To help celebrate the pattern of the week (which I also mentioned may turn into the ”pattern of the every other week” when things are too busy), I think there should be a giveaway.  So please leave us a comment between now and next Monday (the 25th) and you could win a copy of the pattern or book.  Now to try to get things going with this, I’d like to give you multiple chances to win.  So, refer a friend to the site and if that friend leaves a comment, with you listed as the referral, you will both win copies.

We are going to start with my Meadow Lane quilt from my book Fat Quarter Cottage.

The fabrics for this quilt are all from my stash.  I don’t usually work from my stash any more.  I try to buy from current lines so my customers can try to replicate the quilt if they want.  I just couldn’t find a fabric line in these colors at that time.  The border fabric and coordinating stripe are both decoreator fabrics.  Again, I don’t usually do this, but at that time the only way you could find a floral this large was to buy a decorator fabric.  That’s not the case anymore.  One of my new Anna Maria Horner fabrics has flowers larger than Joel’s head.  ( I use Joel’s head as an example, not because of his huge man-sized ego :), but because he literally has a large head.  He can’t even get hats large enough to fit his head.  We call it “Le Melon.”)  Anyways, back to my deocrator fabric - in this case it’s just what the quilt needed.  It’s a great way to finish this quilt and because it’s not used in the piecing in the center of the quilt, the extra weight and thickness doesn’t cause a problem.

My first color option is done with my fabric line called Winter Spice from Henry Glass.  In this sample, I decided to dress up those plain squares with a little applique.  Consider that that square could be used to display other fun things - a fussy cut floral, a picture, an eye-spy fabric, etc.

For my last color option, I used a set of florals for a vintage feel.  The fabric line is called Cornicopia by Fig Tree Quilts.  I made it smaller and scalloped the edges using Darlene Zimmerman’s Easy Scallop Tool.

This couch is my favorite place to stitch binding or knit.  Here’s my view:

Don’t forget to  leave a comment to be registered to win  - sorry just the book, not the view

I was trying to decide what I wanted to write about today, and I thought I would share a tip that always goes over well at my classes.  I call it my continuous binding technique - or to describe it:  what to do with the “tails” after I’ve got the binding sewn around the quilt by machine.  This method is very simple and doesn’t involve trying to figure out complicated cuts or angles.  You know they type– “measure over 1/4″ and cut at a 45 degree angle, sew together and hope it fits!”  Seriously, there is a much easier way.  Here it is!

1.  Diagram shows the tails after binding has been sewn around the rest of the quilt.  Leave tails approximately 10″ long.

2.  Now, overlap the ends of the binding tails — cut the lengths to whatever the width of the binding is.  I usually cut a piece of the binding off to use as a “pattern”.  For example, if your binding is cut 2 1/2″ wide, the overlap of the two ends will be cut to 2 1/2″.

3.  Next, open up the ends of the strip and lay right sides together at a 90-degree angle as shown (with no twists).  Sew from corner to corner of the two strips (think waist band, not crotch) with the stitching running parallel to the quilt.  Trim seam allowance to 1/4″.

The binding should now fit perfectly and you wont be able to tell where you ended your binding (there is a seam in the middle of that photo).  Finish sewing the binding to the quilt by sewing the opening shut.  Now you are ready to hand-stitch.

See - wasn’t that easier?   What do you think of this floral?  Isn’t it beautiful?  It’s designed by Amy Butler.  My scraps are lost in my studio, but if I find a leftovers, I’ll post the fabric line.

It’s a sneak peak into something new that I’m working on.  Do you also have a large floral that you don’t want to cut up?  I can’t show you quite yet what I made with it, but stop back in about a month and I’ll tell you.

“Tune” in next  week to learn my easy technique for cutting my bias binding.

I wanted to introduce you to some of my elves.  I say elves, because the rush to get things ready for market feels like the rush the elves must feel getting ready for Christmas.  There never seems to be enough time to have everything done on schedule.  Thank goodness for some help or I’d never make it.  So, I wanted to give credit where credit was due!

First, my husband Joel and his assistant Daisy (his friend calls her Daisy Fuentes).  Joel is best known for his outgoing personality, especially at market.  He is a natural sales person and has been a great help to me at shows and such, where I generally struggle a bit.  He thinks I have some quilt-designer-Rapunzel-type disorder where I like to disappear into my tower, I mean studio, for days on end, only talking to my fabric scraps.  He helps balance me out in this department, by pulling me out of my shell.  He also helps out by traveling with me when I teach, etc.  I taught in Mexico once and he served as my interpreter as he is fluent in Spanish.  He takes care of daily business activities and is best known for his highly tuned dis-organizational skills. (and he will proudly tell you this!).

Mom and grandson Gavin

Second, is my Mom, Deb.  She has too many valuable skills to name, so we’ll start with just a few.  She’s an excellent sample maker, pattern tester, editor, and sounding board.  She is a very detail oriented person which is great for pattern testing - as we don’t want any wrong measurements!  We have designed a few patterns together - in fact, one of her designs made the cover of That Patchwork Places’ 2007 Calendar.  Mainly she helps me with my designs.  Usually I get myself into such a tizzy that I can’t think striaght to decide which of my 5 options for a table runner pattern is the cutest.  She puts in her vote (and sometimes Joel votes too) and then I go from there.  She is always there for me in a pinch and gives up much of her freetime to come to the studio and work.

Thanks Mom and Joel - I REALLY couldn’t do this without you!!!  I appreciate and love you both -

I also wanted to give you a sneak peak at my new fabric line, Cottage Charm.  Some small amounts of yardage just arrived from Korea yesterday.  The rest of the yardage is on the slow boat from China, or should I say, Korea.  It literally comes across the ocean on a big cargo ship.  It should be in stores sometime around the end of September.  Check back around that time, as I’ll be sure to have a give-away when it comes in.

Last weekend my extended family had reason to celebrate - My cousin Ben was home from Iraq on leave for a week.  His younger brother just got back from basic training and his brother-in-law got back from Iraq a couple months ago.  It was the first time we have all been together in about a year.  My aunt Sheri (Ben’s mom) offered to throw the party, we offered to provide the location.  We were so disappointed that morning to wake up to cloudy skies.   But, as the first car pulled in the sun started to peek out.  By the time everyone was here. the sun was shining.

If you take a closer look at this picture, you can see our backyard has some serious slope.  We have decided to use that to our advantage by making a giant slip-n-slide.  A $30 roll of plastic, a hose and air mattresses provide hours of entertainment for young and old!

 

 

  

  

As the day drew to a close, we said our good-byes.  Everyone kept commenting on what a perfect day it was - wasn’t it great that everyone could come (out of 35 people, that’s a small miracle!).  All I could think about was it wasn’t quite perfect, and not everyone could make it.  We were short one -

  In memory of our cousin Shawn.  We lost him 1 year ago and he would have loved this day.  We miss you Shawn . . . . . . .

   It’s Here!!!!!!

Last October I found out that the folks at American Patchwork and Quilting Magazine were going to come to my house and do a profile on my business.  Imagine my excitement!  It’s got to be one of the biggest moments in my career so far.  The idea all came about thanks to Carrie of Miss Rosie’s Quilt Co.  Carrie and I were invited down to the headquarters of American Patchwork and Quilting last September to be guest judges for the Quilt Sampler magazine.  One of the shops happened to be in Minnesota and Carrie suggested “You will be going right by Heather’s - you should stop by and take some photos.”  Of course, I am thinking the same thing, but don’t dare suggest it.  (I’ve been told that I sometimes have a problem with self-promotion.)  After she said that, I found myself holding my breath, waiting for Elizabeth’s reply (she one of the editors of the mag).    She actually agreed that that would be a good idea!  Then, the panic started setting in - I’m not ready, I need to redecorate my house,  my studio is a mess, etc.  Anyways, I survived and it was actually really fun.  APQ did a great job and I’m so thankful for the great exposure.  So, a special thanks goes out to Carrie and the APQ staff.

For those of you looking for specific quilts featured in the magazine, I thought I would lay out some of the info for you and save you the time of emailing me for it.   So, on page 21 we have:

4-Patch Fusion - on the cover of my book Charmed and Dangerous

Charming Trios - The Baby Collection

Gypsy Girl from my book Fat Quarter Five (on the design wall, to the left of my head on page 21 and on page 22)

 

Behind the french door:  Diamond in the Rough that was featured in APQ in the Dec. 2006 issue (I don’t have a photo of this one)

On the cutting table (page 22):  Flower Boxes, found in my book Favorite Quilts from Anka’s Treasures.  The Lone Star Sensation on page 23 is also found in this book.

On page 24:  Shooting Stars can be found in my Fat Quarter Cottage book

 

The quilt on the couch on page 24 was made from one of my fabric lines called Serenity.  It’s a free download from Henry Glass’s website: http://henryglassfabrics.com.  (You can let me know if you need some fabric.)

The Pomegranate Mantel Mat can be found in my Scraps for all Seasons book and Autumn Days can be found in my book A Season on change. 

Lastly, for those of you wondering about the fabric in my Round About quilt on page 92 - most of the fabrics are from the line Chocolate by 3 Sisters for Moda.  The binding fabric is from their line Shangri-la.  The outer border fabric is one of my designs - from the line Winter Spice by Henry Glass.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the article,

Heather

 

 

After a long day of dealing with misbehaving quilt blocks, incomplete design ideas and number crunching border ideas that don’t fit a quilt center, a box came along to brighten my day.  It contained some fun fabric and I’ll also show you some other fun fabrics that I’ve been finding lately.

First, Garden Party by Anna Maria Horner

 

 

 

  Here’s a closer look at my fat quarters.  I got them here:  www.quiltedtreasures.net (Thanks Mary!)

 

 I couldn’t wait to get started, so I’ve already started cuttting.  For more ideas on this fabric, visit Anna Maria’s blog at http://annamariahorner.blogspot.com/

  I also got this in the mail.  It’s not brand new, but I still love it.  It’s by Heather Bailey and she also has a great blog. http://heatherbailey.typepad.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve also gotten some fun new Moda fabric that I’ve been playing with.  It’s pretty bright, but I love it.  It’s Nest by Tula PInk.

 Joel asked me why I put a chicken on my quilt.  I said “It’s not a chicken.  It’s a birdie.  Chickens are so 5 years ago.  The birdie is the new chicken.”  Birds are everywhere in quilting fabric now.  Plus, if you look close at the fabric, you can see birds, feathers, and eggs.  Very clever!

 

I’ve been craving large scale prints lately - Can ya tell?

Like many designers, I have a home based studio.  It has some great advantages, and a few disadvantages.  You can go to work in your pajamas, it’s handy and your work is always close by, you can play loud music and you don’t disturb anyone, and sometimes there are movies playing during work hours.  Disadvantages - you don’t get to have snow days as there is no excuse for not getting to work,  the studio is open 24/7,  it’s hard to focus on housework when the fabric is right around the corner,  you are always bring threads home from work, and the studio is open for working 168 hours per week.  Despite those negatives,  I love to escape to my studio and work.  As the market deadlines loom closer, it no longer feels like an escape.  It begins to feel like I am being kept there against my will.  Oh well, such is work!

 

I thought I would share a few shot of my studio with you.  After we moved into this house, we realized that we needed an attached garage and a space for me to work.  So, we added on a garage with a bonus room above.  The result is a room with windows on three sides - perfect for working with fabric and color.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those shots were taken on the day that American Patchwork and Quilting magazine was here to do a profile on my business (watch for this coming out in the next issue!!!!) 

These are the shots taken this morning.  This is what things look like when there is actual work being done!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now that I have completely embarrassed myself, it’s time to go back to getting more actual work done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo taken by Greg Scheidemann for the spring issue of Quilt Sampler magazine

Well, I suppose we should start with introductions.  I’m Heather Peterson, the designer of Anka’s Treasures, a quilt pattern design company.  I’ve finally joined the blogosphere, though I’ve been blogging in my head for some time now!  Getting around to actually doing it, well that’s another story.  I love reading other designers blogs, and I have found them to be a great source of inspiration.  In this industry, there are tons of wonderfully creative people.  Blogging is a way for me to become more in touch with all their ideas year round, not just at quilt market or with the publications.  It’s a chance to really get to know other creators all around the world on a more personal and creative level.  Because I love all these things about blogging, I have decided to join you all.  I hope you will find many fun ideas here and I look forward to hearing you comments and thoughts!

I plan to mostly share about my quilting— including what’s new in my pattern designs and the fabrics I do for Henry Glass.  I hope to share with you about my quilting related travels, as I’m out and about doing some speaking and teaching, my favorite fabric lines (love Moda!), ideas on decorating with quilts, and other fun quilt industry related items.  I also knit, so I may post on that too. 

 

I’m not usually very long winded, but I love to take pictures so you will probably see mostly pictures on my blog.  So, if love quilting (like me), love to look at pics (like me), hate to read long winded bloggers (like me), this might be the blog for you! 

Again,

Welcome and Enjoy!

Heather

July 18, 2008

 

This is a test.  If this was an actual post, it would be followed by lots of quilting info and pictures!