My First Design Win!

I'm so excited to share that I won my first surface pattern design contest! The contest was sponsored by Texas Vinyl Dispensary and was for a custom vinyl design for print on demand vinyl. My daughter told me about the contest the day before the deadline, so I didn't have a lot of time to come up with a design. And this is my winning design....Pansy Parade.

Although I'm not that familiar with vinyl and things you can make with it, I know that the pattern design needed to be small so that after the vinyl was cut the pattern could still be identifiable. I wanted to fill the space with pattern so decided to make a floral design. I am inspired by vintage fabrics and I think this pattern design evokes a 60's retro feel. 

The prize for winning is a yard of custom printed vinyl with my design, a yard of custom printed heat set vinyl with my design, and a $50 gift certificate for more product. But really the prize for me is the satisfaction that someone liked my design! A little confidence booster that I may be headed in the right direction as far as my design aesthetic is concerned. It's also rewarding to know that two months ago I didn't even know how to design a pattern and now I've won a contest with my own pattern design. Thank you Texas Vinyl Dispensary for the opportunity and the prizes!

Did you notice my new logo I created for my surface pattern designing? I wanted a cleaner and simpler image and wanted to incorporate my name with the Thistle Thicket Studio name. The background color of the logo can be changed to coordinate with whatever pattern design it accompanies.

I know I haven't shared a lot of my surface pattern designs yet. I'm still working on designs and collections and I'm torn whether or not to share them before making a portfolio and submitting to any companies for licensing consideration. Right now I'm leaning on keeping things secret. But I have completed the Surface Pattern Design Immersion course and I can't say enough good things about it. Bonnie Christine is a fantastic instructor and I'm so happy that I decided to jump in and give this whole design thing a go.

~Sharla

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A Yarn Couched Throw

Finally, A Finish!!! I forced myself to sit down this week and sew the binding on my yarn couched throw - and it took me all week to do it. But I'm excited to have it done and ready to gift to someone very special.

Ever since the new Gammill changeable feet came out, I've been anxious to try my hand at yarn couching. So while we were snowbirding in Texas in February, I picked up some of the chenille yarn that I'd seen someone use on Instagram. By some, I mean a couple of skeins of three different colors. I have way too much because I didn't even use half of the first skein for this throw.

The couching was fun to do, but it wasn't without issues. About once a row, the yarn frayed and sometimes broke. I slowed my machine down, but I think I should have slowed it down even more. I'll do more experimenting next time.

Quilt Stats:

• Quilt Size: 72" x 82"
• Fabric: 108" wide backing fabric of Drawn by Angela Walters for Robert Kaufman. I used this fabric on both the front and back of the throw and the binding.
• Yarn: Bernat Big Ball Blanket Yarn in Moss
• Batting: Hobbs 80/20
• Quilting Pattern: Paisley Feathers B2B by Anne Bright (computerized pattern)
• Quilting Thread: Signature 100% Cotton in Parchment
• Longarm: Gammill Statler Stitcher 30-12

This throw will look beautiful in the neutral color scheme home of it's soon-to-be owner! Now that it's complete and today was the final day of my Surface Pattern Design Immersion course, maybe I can get back to some of my UFOs.

~Sharla

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A Pared Down List for Q2 Finish Along Goals

I'm in the planning stages of some secret sewing that I'll be working on this quarter for something fun that's going to happen this summer, so I've streamlined my second quarter goals for the Finish-A-Long. I can't share about the secret sewing yet but stay tuned because I think you'll want to join along come June!

But back to my Q2 Goals. Here they are in all their unfinished glory.....

1. Frivols Kindred Quilt: I haven't touched this one in months (as you can see by the date on the photo), so I'm still at the block making stage. 

2. Quilt Guild Row Quilt Challenge: I did get the railroad crossing and star rows completed during Mom's Sisters Sew Weekend back in January, but haven't touched it since. I still have 3 or 4 rows left to make before I can sew the top together.

3. Just The Atoms: Yep, haven't touched this one since last fall. Still in the block making stage for this one too. Maybe this quarter....

4. Modern Marks: When we went to Texas in February, I took my Babylock with me and had it serviced while there. I bought a charm pack of Christa Watson's Modern Marks to test my machine after it was serviced. This was going to be a quick child's quilt to donate to a local child advocacy group, but you guessed it - haven't touched it since returning from Texas.

Sorry this is so short and sweet. I've had some of these on my goal list for so long, I'm sure y'all are sick of seeing and hearing about them! I know I am! My recurring theme of 'haven't touched this' has the MC Hammer song "Can't Touch This" running through my head now!

I'll be linking this post up with the FAL Q2 Goals linky party. For more info on the Finish-A-Long, click here.

~Sharla

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Finish-A-Long Q1 Finish - Home Mini Quilts

Once again I only completed one of my goals for the first quarter of the Finish-A-Long, but I guess one is better than none! If you've followed my blog, or any number of other quilting bloggers, you probably have heard of the Finish-A-Long, but if not, you can check out the details here.

I just blogged about this finish in my last post here, but I see that has been a couple of weeks ago! As you can tell, not much sewing (or blogging) has been going on here since I returned home from our month-long vacay to Texas because I've been fully immersed in my surface pattern design class, but that's for another post.

As I said, I only finished one project from my posted goals, which you can see here, so without further adieu, here are my HOME mini quilts.....

This was a fun little project and I'm hoping to make more projects from the book, Spelling Bee by Lori Holt of Bee In My Bonnet. At least one will surely be on my Q2 goals!

I'm linking this post up with the Q1 FAL linky party. You can see all the entries at the link up here.

Are you participating in the FAL? What are some of your goals for the next quarter?

~Sharla

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HOME Mini Quilts

I received a galvanized metal farmhouse shelf from my mom for Christmas. It has a rod across the bottom to hang things on. The photo on the box showed galvanized buckets hanging from it. Of course I chose to hang a quilt instead. But it needed something more, so I decided to make a set of Spelling Bee (quilt book by Lori Holt of Bee In My Bonnet) letter mini quilts that spelled "HOME" to hang across it.

Of course, the letters were quick and easy to make. I used some of Lori Holt's Modern Mini's fabric to make the letters. Then they sat on my sewing table while the hubby and I spent most of February in Texas spoiling the grandkids. A week ago, I quickly loaded a piece of black and white gingham checked fabric and quilted the blocks. Each has a different design and I was happy with how drastically reducing some edge-2-edge patterns turned out. Unfortunately, the quilting doesn't show up in my photos very well.

Yesterday and today I finished them up by putting on the binding. I think they turned out so cute and I love the gingham check on the back (although no one will ever see it).

The rest of my time has been spent on my classes for Bonnie Christine's Surface Pattern Design Immersion Course. This weekend, our assignment was to sketch using nature and things in our surroundings. As I've said before, I'm not an artist, so this part of the class has been a little scary. But I gave it a whirl. This was my first sketch. I sent a photo of just the sketch to my daughter and mom and asked if they could guess what it was. Each of them guessed a flower on the first try.....BUT both guessed a pinecone on the second try! I was so excited that they could tell what it was.

And guess what?! I am an artist!!! (Hmmm, I think I'll add it to my Instagram bio. Believe it, Be it! Lol!) I am really happy with how these sketches turned out and can't wait until we learn how to put them into a repeat in Adobe Illustrator. I'm learning a ton and couldn't be more excited as to where this class is taking me. Next - watercolor!

~Sharla

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Embarking On A New Adverture

Excited. Nervous. Scared. Anxious. I had all of those emotions and more as I clicked the button to enroll in Bonnie Christine's Surface Pattern Design Immersion course a couple of weeks ago. I was excited at the thought of finally learning how to use Adobe Illustrator to design fabric. Nervous that I was wasting my money on something that probably won't come to fruition. Scared that I really am not an artist so this dream is really not achievable. Anxious to take on the challenge and prove myself wrong.

The class started this past week and it's been a whirlwind of learning all the ins and outs, functions and abilities, etc. of a computer program I had never even opened up until the class on Monday. Adobe Illustrator is awesome and frustrating all at the same time. Trying to remember everything that I've learned this last week seems daunting, but our instructor Bonnie is a great teacher and soon, I suspect, all these things will become second nature and I'll wonder what was such a big deal about learning it. But, there's also the chance my brain will explode with all this information and there's seven more weeks to go! Here is a little sketch I made while practicing some of my new found skills.

Needless to say, not much sewing has happened around here this past week. I did crank out four pillowcases last night, though, to turn in today at quilt guild. The guild is going to donate them to a children's advocacy organization that serves abused children in the area. They fill the pillowcases with toiletries and other needed items for their clients.

Well, better get back to my homework. Our assignment for the weekend is to draw lots of sketches to use next week as we start building our surface patterns. I'm sure I'll be sharing more in the near future on my adventures!

~Sharla

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T-Shirt Quilt: First Quilt Finish of 2018

I'm back! Did ya miss me? The hubby and I spent the last few weeks spoiling the grandkids. While there I had technical difficulties with posting on my blog, so finally gave up and decided I'd tackle it when I returned home. It's still acting a little squirrely but hoping it'll work itself out. So, here's the post I tried to share a couple of weeks ago.....

The stack of t-shirts had been gathering dust for years in my sewing room. At least now the stack has been transformed into a quilt and can now gather dust in my daughter’s house instead! Ha! But seriously, I’m happy to be able to mark this one off my to do list.

I surprised my daughter with this quilt last week. I don’t think she realized I still had some of her old high school & college shirts. She had told me to take them to the thrift store years ago, but I couldn’t give her memories away. This quilt spans from her high school years into adulthood & motherhood as a couple of her son’s baby K-State t-Shirts found their way into the quilt also. 

I cut the largest shirts into 15” finished squares then cut the smaller shirts & logos into sizes, that when combined would create a 15” square. I sashed the blocks with 1” finished sashes, alternating either with black or white. I then added a 4” border, making opposite corner quadrants either black or white. I like the finished effect.

For the backing, I sewed several scrap pieces from my stash using blacks, whites, grays, reds & one K-State camo piece. I didn’t have enough scraps so I purchased the scribbly black, white & gray fabric by Kim Schaefer for Andover to complete the back.

I quilted it on the longarm with an edge-2-edge pattern called Pick Up Sticks by Anne Bright using a variegated gray Signature thread. The binding is a black & white striped fabric.

I did have a little problem with skipped stitches on one sweatshirt with heavy embroidery. The bigger skips I tried to re-quilt with slightly better results, but left a couple that I didn't think would improve. I don't think anyone will ever notice.

I had hoped to photograph this quilt out in the Texas wild but the weather was rainy and uncooperative, so I apologize for the rather poor quality of the photos.

Quilt Stats:

• Quilt Size: 76” x 76”
• Quilt Pattern: Original design
• Sashing & Border Fabrics: Moda Bella Solids 9900 98 white & 9900 99 black
• T-Shirt Backing: Pellon SF101 
• Shirts: Variety of cotton T-shirts, sweatshirts & nylon windbreakers
• Backing Fabrics: Various scraps from stash plus yardage of Pattern 8563 by Kim Schaefer for Andover Fabrics.
• Binding Fabric: Black & white stripe from Lella Boutique’s Olive’s Flower Market
• Batting: Hobbs 80/20
• Piecing Thread: Aurifil 2024
• Quilting Thread: Signature variegated gray
• Quilting Pattern: Pick Up Sticks by Anne Bright
• Longarm: Gammill Statler Stitcher

-Sharla

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