Archive | Quilt as you Go

Hello Summer!

July 5, 2017

I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July weekend! I’ve found myself up early before both kids, so I thought i’d see how far I could get with this post before the kraken awakens. 😉 But mostly, I wanted to greet you with these beautiful tulips made using fabrics from my second collection, La Conner (available in stores this August!).

These lovely tulips were made by the talented Viktoriia of Color View on Etsy. She was so pleasant to work with and she made them so quickly. I simply sent her my fabric and she made this gorgeous bundle. Be sure to pick up a bundle for yourself – they never wilt! 😉

These tulips were perfect with my La Conner collection, which was inspired by the town of La Conner, Washington – located 1 hour north of Seattle. La Conner is known for their endless fields of tulips in the Spring season. I captured these two photos below in May when visiting.

Tulip land!

These tulips made a lovely bunch to display at my Spring quilt market booth. They also made the sweetest little thank you’s for my quilty friends that helped prepare La Conner quilts for my market booth.

On a different note, per usual I’ve been quiet on the blog lately. Here’s a bit of what I’ve been up to…

🙂 Let’s just say this was a totally new experience for me! A few weeks ago I was in Texas filming at Fat Quarter Shop. I was there for two days and we filmed non-stop tutorials for you all! I’m both nervous and excited to share these tutorials with you all. Nervous because i’m dreading seeing myself on camera, oy. But honestly, video tutorials are the most efficient way to explain technique style projects, such as quilt-as-you-go, which I will be sharing with you all!

Be on the lookout for my videos which will eventually appear here and on my blog as well. I will of course let you know when they are ready. Should be within a week or so! Here’s a sneak peak of one of the QAYG projects that we filmed..

Other than my quilty stuff which is keeping my very busy, i’ve had my hands full with these two peanuts! Summer is in full swing at the Brandvig house!

This guy starts kindergarten this September…time slow down!

We’ve been picking blueberries and raspberries from our yard. I cannot thank the lovely woman who lived in our house before us enough, for planting beautiful blueberry bushes along our backyard fence. Thank you, Bonnie. My boys and I have gotten so much joy (and happy tummies) from these blueberry bushes.

Happy tummies indeed! I used this delicious and simple Contest Winning Blueberry Pie recipe. I completely recommend it, and we’ll be making another pie this week as the blueberries keep on coming.

Such a happy site!

Since I’ve somehow started blogging about baking (which was my love before quilting!), I might as well share these lemon bars I made the other day for my husband’s birthday. The recipe uses only 5 ingredients and can be found here. We make them every year. Sooo yummy.

My husband lost his birthday 2 years ago when Simon decided to pop into this world 30 minutes into July 3rd, sharing his birthday. 😉 So a construction site cake for Si, and lemon bars for Dad.

I’ve been a busy mama!

Anyway, i’m feeling triumphant for finishing this blog post before the kids are totally up (I can here their faint awakening cries upstairs now, lol). That being said, I will leave you with this beautiful tulip bundle. Excited to share more with you next time, and as always, thanks for stopping by! Bye-bye!!!

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Meet my 2nd book, Quilt-As-You-Go Made Vintage

March 23, 2017

Two big boxes of quilts from my second book arrived on my doorstep last week. It felt like it was just yesterday when my husband and I ceremonially shipped them off, checking off that milestone with happy hearts. Followed by quiet (and tired), ice cream celebration with the kids. 🙂

I am so happy to be sharing my second quilt as-you-go book with you all! Quilt As-You-Go Made Vintage is a follow up to my first book, Quilt As-You-Go Made Modern.

By now I’m sure I sound like a broken record, but this book would not have been possible if not for all of YOU! So a big, warm thank you from my family to yours for all of your support. Also, a loving thank you to my husband, Ben. Thank you for keeping me sane, helping me make time for this book (you can read more on how we did that here), and being there for me through the late nights and rough patches.

Without further ado, I am beyond pleased to introduce you to my second book! In this post I will share what Quilt As-You-Go Made Vintage all about and how it’s different from the first. I will also share lots of photos of 1 of 9 project quilts in this book. I will continue to share more quilts from my book as the official release date (September 2017) approaches.

On a different (and exciting!) note, I just found out a couple days ago that you can pre-order Quilt As-You-Go Made Vintage on Amazon already!

The quilt that I’m sharing today is called the High Tea Sampler quilt. It was made using 48 of the 51 block patterns, all found in my book. Fabrics used are from my first fabric collection, called High Tea for Lecien Fabrics. This quilt was assembled using an all new quilt as-you-go joining technique that was not previously shown in my first book. This joining technique essentially creates a reversible quilt. In a nutshell, you quilt the blocks (which measure 12″ squares finished), and then assemble them using joining strips on the front and back of the quilt.

This photo shows a glimpse of the front and back of the quilt.

This quilt measures 75″ x 100″ – it’s big! But since you’re quilting 12″ blocks individually, it makes it more manageable to finish a big quilt on your own as you’re not having to run an entire quilt through your machine. Instead, you’re working with 12″ blocks.

My husband and I read each and every one of the 300+ reviews on Amazon for my first book, and we listened! (By the way, thank you to all who took the time to leave a helpful and thoughtful review!). I think this all new joining method is what people were looking for, and so here you have it! 🙂 Ta-dah! 😉

In the years since Quilt As-You-Go Made Modern released, I’ve become more and more obsessed with classic quilt blocks and vintage quilt patterns. The elegant simplicity of the patterns and delicate details give the quilts a timeless, romantic quality. Since this obsession began, I’ve been working to apply my love of the quilt as-you-go technique to classic quilt designs. The blocks in my book are all pretty simple, but timeless quilt blocks. Hence, the follow up name of my second book, Quilt As-You-Go Made Vintage. So while my first book had more modern style quilts, this book has a more traditional feel to it.

However, with 9 projects and 51 sampler block patterns to choose from, there is still lots of room for creativity!

My goals were to keep the technique simple, keep the creative flexibility intact, but open the door to making any block using the quilt as-you-go method. I also wanted to provide a technique to complete a project without putting the assembled quilt through your sewing machine.

This book is the culmination of that work. With this book I will show that quilt as-you-go can be used to achieve a traditional and classic style of quilt while still allowing your creativity to show through. In fact, the methods in this book could apply to any block pattern – even those not specifically designed for quilt as-you-go. And as mentioned above, this book introduces a new Quilt-As-you-Go joining technique that doesn’t require the assembled quilt to be put through a machine – not even to attach the backing. And as an added bonus, the new technique results in a beautiful, reversible quilt!

This book has 50 different quilt block patterns that measure 12” x 12” finished, as well as 3 different quilt as-you-go finishing techniques to choose from. To give you even more options, you can choose to use the quilt as-you-go finishing techniques or not, as the block patterns can be used to make traditionally finished quilts too. The choice of how to finish your quilt is all yours!

In this book I also have a chapter called ‘Quilts for Thought’ to help get your creative juices flowing. My intention for that chapter was to inspire you to create a quilt.

I also have a chapter dedicated to choosing fabrics for your quilt. I touch a bit on FMQ as well. Though the patterns in this book are more traditional as compared to my first book, I really strived to make this book a creative (and fun!) experience.

Anyway, I hate to end this post as I could go on and on talking about this book. But, I have a 5 year old that I need to pick-up from preschool. 😉

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I plan to keep sharing more project quilts from my book with you all! Also, stay tuned for my second fabric collection debut. Fun stuff ahead!

Warm hugs! And happy Spring!

xoxo

Jera

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Spring is upon us!

March 18, 2017

The other day the sun made an appearance in Seattle which inspired me to write this post. Boy am I ready for Spring! I love how the sun brightens my whole house! It proves to be such of a challenge trying to take quilt photos, or photos of my upcoming fabric collection (which I had to do last week in the dark, gray weather), when the rain clouds are constantly looming. So, when the sun popped out I went on a photo frenzy snapping away.

Here’s a few projects I’ve been up to. With the new season comes new babies! 🙂 A handful of my friends are due this Spring! This quilt below I made and gifted to my dear friend Stephanie of 15+ years who has a baby girl on the way. I used quilt as-you-go to make this. My QAYG technique and pattern for this particular quilt can be found in my first book, Quilt As-You-Go Made Modern.

Here’s a couple more up-close photos of the quilting, which is easy to do when you’re using the QAYG technique!

The pattern is Solstice Parade from my first book, Quilt As-You-Go Made Modern. I replaced the middle strip with solid white to make the diamond/lattice effect.

Another dear friend of ours named Katie is due this April. My husband and her majored in Astronomy and Physics at the University of Washington. She also happens to be a cat lover.

So…when I saw this Space Cats fabric within seconds of walking into my local Pacific Fabrics and crafts store, I knew it was meant to be!

I have an older tutorial called Easy Baby Blankets which I used to make this blanky. I substituted minky cuddle fabric for the backing instead of using fleece. When using minky, my advice is to pin like crazy. I practically basted this blanket, with pins inches apart all around the edges. Also, use a walking foot when sewing it together to keep the layers of fabric from bunching or puckering.

The Space Cats fabric is by Timeless treasures, and the minky cuddle backing is by Shannon Fabrics. Both I bought from my local Pacific Fabrics and Crafts store.

It’s a practical baby blanket that’s super cuddly and warm, and is easy easy to pack or throw in the diaper bag/car seat.

I tend to go a long time not posting when I get busy, especially when the dark, rainy weather doesn’t help make for a good photo op! So thanks to that ray of sunshine that came out the other day, else I most likely wouldn’t be sharing these fun projects! 😉

Thanks for stopping by! My next post I plan to share my second book and second fabric collection, respectively. Exciting stuff is a brewin’!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

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Make Time for the Things you Love

January 16, 2017

I realized it’s been months since I last made a post! I’ve had so much I wanted to share, but the end of the year got busy with the holidays, making deadlines and my family getting hit with the nasty cold bug. I hope all of you have been well and healthy, and keeping warm with all the ice storms happening in the states.

In this post I will share some sneak peak photos from my 2nd book, including how I made time for it. These days time seems few and far between! Making time isn’t easy…in all honesty I almost quit writing my book…but I kept at it and got it done with some help.

Quilt As-You Go – book 2 sneak peak

Some news on the quilting front: My second quilt as-you-go book is well on it’s way! It will be released Fall of 2017. This book builds upon my first, Quilt As-You-Go Made Modern, with some fresh qayg ideas plus a 3rd joining method, which creates a reversible quilt. I am so excited to share it with you all! In addition, my second fabric collection for Lecien Fabrics will be released this Spring! My fabric will have a very cute notion to go along with it…can’t wait to share more!

Also, a quick thank you for 300 reviews on Amazon for my first book! My second book would not have been possible without all of your support and enthusiasm. A heartfelt thank you for that.

‘Husband of the Year Award’ goes to my Ben. <3 Leading up to my 2nd book’s deadline(s), my husband and I shared a handful of late nights binding quilts together. I didn’t even need to ask him, he just did it. Ben and I will celebrate our 10 year anniversary this July.

Our Summer basically consisted of Ben coming home from work, we would eat a quick dinner and then he would take over the kids and cleaning the dishes from that point on so that I could work on my book, as well as designing my 2nd fabric collection. He’d take the kids to the park, get them ready for bed and then tuck them in for the night. That typically gave me from 6:00pm until the rest of the night to work. This helped me not have to stay up until 2am every night since I got an earlier start. He also took the kids during Saturdays to give me a full day to work. I like to think we make a good team.

Quilt As-You-Go Blocks

Yes, my husband and I didn’t see much of each other over the Summer, but we knew it was only temporary. My complaints were that I didn’t have enough time, and so we made time. It’s funny how it’s a simple concept, but it doesn’t mean it would be easy to do. Love this quote.

Doing this also allowed me to spend 100% of my time with my two boys during the Summer days. We picked blueberries in our yard, went on long summer walks, went to the zoo and played at local Seattle parks and made wonderful memories during this fleeting time where they grow up too fast.

Before our crazy schedule I was trying to squeeze in work here and there during nap times, putting on movies so I could try to get a bit done during the day. But if any of you have ever tried to work with a one-year-old and 4-year-old milling about, you’ll know it’s just not possible. LOL. It was also very stressful…I became a mean-mama-monster with every little interruption. It wasn’t worth it.

One emotional night I wrote an email to my publisher telling them that I would have to quit the book. Even with our crazy, new schedule, I still felt that I couldn’t do it all. I almost hit “send,” but felt that I had to have my husband’s blessing first. He told me to try asking for help before I make any big decisions, and that I should reach out to some quilting friends that I’ve met on instagram to see if they would be interested in making some quilts for the book.

I’m usually very independent when I work, and I try to do it all myself. For my first book, I did it all on my own – I made every single quilt. But my situation was different then. At the time I only had one child who took 4 hour naps during the day! Now I have two kids that were wide awake pretty much all day, lol. Let’s get real…I did need help. And it took my husband telling me so to realize it.

So that night I went out of my comfort zone and reached out to some friends from instagram to see if I could contract them for some help. I emailed them and waited for a response the following morning. Just like that, I had found some help. I felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders, and that the impossible might actually be possible now.

Writing my second book and continuing designing fabrics is important to me. It’s a way for me to express my creativity and share it with the world. My kids are my world. I love them to “finity and beyond” as my eldest would say. The days can escape us, and some days they can drain us. We can find ourselves in a tired, stressful loop. I’m not claiming to know how to fix this for everyone, but I do know that it’s important to take time to do what makes your soul happy.

Spending time with my kids and creating beautiful things makes my soul happy. If you feel like you don’t have time, then make time. With the help of my husband, we were able to make time. I admit that the crazy schedule was not sustainable, but as mentioned before we knew it was a temporary fix. Perhaps down the road we’ll be able to afford child care to help us out for the next round 😉

Anyway, I hope my story might be helpful in some way. If not, I hope you at least enjoyed the photo sneak-peaks, lol.

Here’s a few more I pulled from my camera.

My youngest son is Simon. He is now 1 1/2 years old. He is a Tasmanian devil…quite the handful!

And my eldest, Ethan. He is the sweetest and has the biggest heart. He turns 5 this February.

Some more sneak peaks of book 2. These are quilted blocks using my fabrics from my first fabric collection, High Tea for Lecien Fabrics.

Isn’t this the daintiest binding…!?

I hope you all enjoyed this post and that you have a wonderful new year ahead!

In 2017, don’t forget to make time to do what makes your soul happy! 🙂

Hugs,

Jera

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High Tea Blog Hop – Week 1 Recap

August 23, 2016

I hope you’re all ready for a heavy dose of some crafting inspiration! I’m a few weeks late posting this recap as we’re currently into the last week (week 3) of my High Tea Blog hop! But being late won’t stop me from sharing the beautiful creations from week 1. 🙂

Below is a recap of my Week One Guests of the High Tea Party/Blog-Instagram tour. Please scroll down to see images of the beautiful projects they made using my new High Tea Collection, which debuted this August.

8/9 – Melissa LeRay of Oh How Sweet Co

8/10 – Jemima Flendt of Tied with A Ribbon

8/11 – Deborah Russell of @missluella

8/12 – Minki Kim of Minki’s Work Table

8/13 – Rennee Lange of Sewn With Grace

8/14 – Lisa Cox of A Spoonful of Sugar

8/9 – Melissa LeRay of Oh How Sweet Co kicked my tour off by posting the beautiful hexies above.

8/10 was Jemima Flendt of Tied With a Ribbon. I had the pleasure of meeting Jemima briefly at quilt market and she is as lovely as her projects. 🙂 Please check out her blog post for more photos and pattern details on this pillow. I’ve been scared to try paper piecing, but I’m seeing a lot of it in this blog tour and it’s quite inspiring. I want to keep this pillow for myself! : )

Deborah Russell of @missluella1 took the gorgeous photo above, and made the strippy quilt (below) using a QAYG pattern from my book, Quilt As-You-Go Made Modern.

Next up is the talented Minki Kim of Minki’s Work Table. Okay, so this quilt below is seriously incredible and one of a kind. And I’ll tell you why…

She took the drawings that her daughter made….

And then embroidered them! and then…

…made it into a quilt! Isn’t this the perfect heirloom quilt? I am honored that Minki chose my fabrics for her daughter’s quilt.

You can learn all about this technique from Minki’s new book, Sew Illustrated. I’m about to get myself a copy!

On 8/13, we had Rennee Lange of Sewn With Grace.

She cut out all these cute tea-cups with fusible backing ironed to the back…

And made this absolutely stunning quilt out of them! How fitting is this quilt for my High Tea collection?! Please check out her blog for more details, including the pattern.

Last, but (most definitely) not least, is Lisa Cox of A spoonful of Sugar. Lisa and her daughter have the sweetest blog where they share their crafting creations and baking recipes. Lisa made this adorable, and pretty much ‘picture perfect’ table topper using High Tea. Yet another project I want to keep all to myself! :-p

And the perfection doesn’t end there. Lisa also made this adorable sewing kit made out of hexies.

*sigh* Want.

I am incredibly grateful and in awe to all the designers and crafters that made these lovely creations with my High Tea fabrics.

I hope you enjoyed week 1’s recap. If you want to hop on board to the current tour, the schedule is below. If you click HERE, there are links to all the blogs – or just follow me on instagram @quiltingintherain for a live feed.

Thank you for joining me and all these lovely designers for High Tea! I plan to post week 2’s recap soon-ish, lol. That’s the best I can promise right now with it being the middle of Summer and trying to keep up with my kiddos. Until then!

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