A New View on Transformation

Do these prints look familiar but leave you wondering if your screen turned black and white? 

Rest assured, your screen is fine! Sarah Vedeler's Transformation line was so popular, we've created Transformation Black & White--the same fun geometric prints in graphic black and white. 

Having a little fun with fall...black and white on red leaves!

Create this black and white beauty, "Monochrome Waves" by Benartex Studio. The free pattern is available on our website.  

Click here to download the free quilt pattern.

What else can you do with these prints? Here are some ideas from designer Sarah Vedeler:

The same block paired with turquoise in a mini quilt:

 Black and white with accents of light blue:

We also featured a tutorial for a Transformation laundry bag (paired with lime green Fleurish) recently on our blog. Find it here. 

Click here to see the entire Transformation Black & White collection.
Click here to find the free quilt pattern Monochrome Waves.
Click here to visit Sarah Vedeler's website. 

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Splash of Color: Series Finale

Back in the spring, we introduced you to Sarah Vedeler's "Splash of Color" quilt, which was being featured as a 6-part series quilt in McCall's Quilting magazine. The sixth part just came out in the November/December 2016 issue of the magazine, and we fell in love with this quilt all over again! 

The quilt combines fussy-cut pieces, patchwork, and applique, all featuring Sarah's Transformation collection from Contempo. 

You see so much detail, but the fabric does so much of the work! 

Click here to read our original interview with Sarah about the Splash of Color quilt.

Click here to see Sarah's Transformation fabric.

Click here to visit Sarah's website and find the Splash of Color designs. 

Click here to find McCall's Quilting magazine (The November-December issue features the 6th part in the Splash of Color series.)

p.s. Have you seen Sarah's Transformation Black & White collection? It's featured in a tutorial here and you can see the entire collection on here our website. 

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Back to School Blog Hop: Day 2

Parents everywhere are rejoicing as school begins again! In celebration of this special time of the year, we're hosting a Back to School Blog Hop. But "back to school" isn't just for the parents of school kids...it's also for anyone heading off to college, returning to school, or even just looking for a fresh start. With that in mind we're sharing three tutorials this week (plus fabric giveaways!) that will appeal to anyone in a back-to-school mindset!

Here's a back-to-school pop quiz:

If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? 

Does a fun laundry bag make washing clothes more fun? 

The first question is up for debate, but we're going to give a resounding YES! to the second.

Today's tutorial is a laundry bag featuring Sarah Vedeler's Transformation Black & White prints with a pop of lime from the Fleurish collection. 

If you loved Sarah's original Transformation line,
the black and white version will grab your attention too!

This laundry bag has it all: sturdy construction, neat fabrics, and an adjustable drawstring top. And it as one more surprising feature: an average size. Which means it can't be stuffed with a month's worth of laundry--no procrastinating means clean clothes more frequently and a happy washing machine that isn't jam-packed every time. Perfect for college students or any resident laundry fairy who needs a pick-me-up for this never-ending chore!

Materials:
1-1/3 yards black print #1 (includes lining)
1/4 yard black print #2
1/4 yard black print #3
1/4 yard black print #4
1/3 yard black print #5
3/4 yard lime green print

Note: This tutorial calls for using all 42" of the fabric width in an effort to use the yardage efficiently and still make the bag as wide as possible. If your fabric is not quite that wide, simply get as close to 42" as you can. As long as your pieces are all the same, the instructions will work just fine; your bag will simply be a tiny bit narrower. 

Cutting:
From black print #1, cut:
(1) 8-1/2" x 42" strip
(2) 21" x 34" pieces (for lining)

From black print #2, cut:
(1) 4-1/2" x 42" strip

From black print #3, cut:
(1) 6-1/2" x 42" strip

From black print #4, cut:
(1) 3-1/2" x 42" strip

From black print #5, cut:
(1) 9-1/2" x 42" strip

From the lime green, cut:
(4) 1-1/2" x 42" strips
(3) 6" x 42" strips (for drawstrings)

Make the Laundry Bag
Step 1: Lay out the five various width black strips in the cutting order (and as shown below), alternating with the (4) 1-1/2" x 42" lime green strips. Sew the strips together to make a large panel.
Step 2: Cut the panel into (2) 21" x 34-1/2" pieced units. 

Step 3: Lay the two pieced units right sides together with seams and raw edges matching. Pin along three sides, leaving the top (with the widest black #5 strip) open. Measure and mark a line 4" from the top edge (indicated in photo by pink digital lines and, if your eyes are very good, a faint marker line). Pin at these marks. 

Step 4: Sew around three edges of the units to create the outer bag. Start and stop sewing at the marked line, leaving the top 4" open. Backstitch at the beginning and end. 
Step 5: Press each of the raw edges of the remaining 4" in 1/4" as shown. The pink line shows where the stitching stopped. 

Step 6: Sew the (2) 21" x 34-1/2" lining pieces right sides together on three sides, leaving one short end open for the top and leaving a 12" opening along the other short end for turning. 
Step 7: Turn the outer bag right side out and tuck into the lining, right sides together. Match up the top raw edges and pin in place, including matching and pinning the pressed raw edges on the side seams (see second photo below). The top 4" on either side seam will remain open when you stitch in the next step.

A close-up showing the pressed edges aligned and pinned. 

 Step 8: Sew the top pinned edges on both sides to connect the outer bag and lining. Again, make sure the 4" sections on both sides of the bag stay open. Turn the bag right side out through the lining opening. Stitch the lining opening closed and tuck inside the outer bag. Press the top edges of the bag. 
Step 9: Lay the bag flat on your mat and mark a line 3" in from the top bag edge on the lining as shown. Fold the top edge of the bag to that line and pin in place. Sew in place using a 1/4" seam to create the casing. Sew a second line 1/4" from the first for additional strength. Repeat on the opposite top edge. 

Step 10: Stitch back and forth just below the casing stitches where the bag splits into two pieces to secure (see spot marked with the pink circle). Repeat on opposite side. 

Step 11: Sew the (3) 6" x 42" lime green strips short ends together into a long strip. Cut this long strip in half to make 2 equal-length strips. Press each strip in half lengthwise, wrong sides together and then unfold and refold each long edge in to the center fold and press.  

Step 12: Fold the strip again on the original center fold and topstitch down both long edges to make the drawstring. Make 2. 

Step 13: Using a safety pin, feed one drawstring through the front casing, beginning at the left side, passing through the opening on the right side, and back through the back casing. Tie ends to secure. Repeat with second drawstring, beginning and ending on the right side. 

Your laundry bag is complete! 

Stuffed full!

For a chance to win a FQ bundle of the Transformation Black & White collection, make sure you follow us here on the blog (options are in the right-hand sidebar). Leave a comment letting us know that you do, as well as telling us your thoughts on laundry--love it? hate it? pawn it off on someone else in the family? This giveaway is open through Tuesday, August 30th at 11:59 pm EST. We'll randomly draw a winner and announce it here on the blog. 


Make sure to catch all of the tutorials in our Back to School Blog Hop!
Wednesday: Chris from made by ChrissieD featuring Simply Chic
Thursday: Benartex Blog Design Team featuring Transformation Black & White
Friday: Wendy from Ivory Spring featuring Lemon Squeezy

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Focus on Embroidery: Splash of Color

Not all quilters are embroiderers, and not all embroiderers are quilters. But when you do mix these two art forms together, the results are pretty incredible! 

This week we'll be focusing on embroidery here on the blog--specifically embroidery collections that coordinate with some of our fabric lines. If you already love embroidery, consider this a heads-up of some of the fun designs available for your next project. If you haven't jumped on the embroidery bandwagon, we hope you'll consider this week's posts an introduction to what is possible. Enjoy!

What do you get when you combine beautiful fabrics with stunning embroidery? A quilt like Sarah Vedeler's "Splash of Color," which is currently being featured as a series in McCall's Quilting. 

"Splash of Color" by Sarah Vedeler; machine quilted by Gina Perkes;
features in McCall's Quilting

We asked Sarah to tell us about "Splash of Color," and how this quilt design developed. 

How did Splash of Color get started?

I designed a quilt for McCall's using my new [at the time] fabric line, Transformations, and some of my newer embroidery designs. They loved the quilt and wanted to use it as a series quilt in 2016. (Instructions for making the quilt are spread out over six issues, beginning with the January/February 2016 issue of the magazine.)

Tell us about why this quilt design works so well with your Transformation fabric line. 

I designed it so you can do a certain amount of fussy cutting. I used the infinity circle print in the borders--they're each one row of circles, and the quilt was designed around this. For some of the appliques, I fussy cut the fabric--for example, I used the stripe in the scroll heart, and then I fussy cut the tree of life fabric to center it in a heart shape as well. 

Tell us about the applique work. 

I created the quilt using my embroidery machine; the applique is all digitized so it can be done on the embroidery machine. But because of the strength of design of the fabric, it's more applique work done on the embroidery, and not your typical embroidery with so much stitching. The embroidery actually features the fabric. I have a signature satin stitch that has a triple stitch around the outside edge and a triple stitch around the inside edge. It gives a really nice 3-D look and creates a beautifully clean satin stitch. It's kind of a satin stitch plus. 

How can quilters purchase the embroidery designs?

They're available on my website. The digital downloads include the designs in two different styles:  basic embroidery designs that highlight the applique, and then embroidered applique designs with solid fabrics to show off the gorgeous threadwork in the designs. I also created a Facebook group so anyone making the quilt can follow along, post photos, and ask questions. 

An example of the embroidered design used on solid fabric.

Click here to see Sarah's Transformation fabric.

Click here to visit Sarah's website and find the Splash of Color designs. 

Click here to find McCall's Quilting magazine. (The May/June issue, pictured below, is #3 out of 6 in the series.)

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Pre-cut strips in action!

If you love Sarah Vedeler's Transformation collection and you love pre-cut 2-1/2" strips, be sure to check out this tutorial from Missouri Star Quilt Company! Jenny Doan shows how to make a quilt using these fun strips. 

What a great scrappy-looking quilt, with the added bonus that it's fast to make! 

Click here to see the tutorial. 
Click here to see the entire Transformation collection by Sarah Vedeler for Contempo Studio. 

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Friday Eye Candy: Transformation

With a background in computer science, it’s no surprise that Sarah Vedeler’s first fabric collection, Transformation, has a solid base in mathematic concepts. However, Sarah’s more recent work history has an artistic bent, designing and digitizing embroidery designs. The influence of both these paths is evident in the Transformation prints, which has both the precise, proportioned feel of sacred geometry and the intricate, swirling details of her embroidery designs.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I used to be a software engineer, and I have a PhD in computer science. I’m originally from England. I have two children and became a single mom seven years ago. I needed to support myself, and I wanted to be able to stay home with my kids, but also do something for a living that would nourish me on a cellular level. I had made baby clothes for my daughters and decided to design. I fell in love with embroidering on applique and started teaching it at a couple local quilt shops. At Quilt Market in 2009, I met some people from Bernina. They were looking for ways to get quilters interested in embroidery. Then I started designing dies for Accu-Quilt as well. It all just went from there!

Tell us about your first fabric line, Transformation.

It’s based on the concept of sacred geometry—patterns and cycles in nature that repeat themselves and have certain mathematical constants. The fabrics include the infinity symbol and the flower of life, as well as many circle shapes (the circle is the cornerstone of sacred geometry).

How did you choose your color palette?

I went to the Sherwin Williams paint store and came home with a full range of their paint swatches. They must have thought I was crazy! I also grabbed the quarterly newsletter featuring color trends for professional painters, which was featuring bright, festive color schemes, inspired by the upcoming Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro.

Tell us about some of your fabrics.

My favorite would have to be the turquoise and green flower of life. Then there’s also the orange and pink one. I love them all, but those two I am particularly in love with.

And the infinity fabrics—I usually use solid fabrics for applique, because the embroidery creates the design. But I started playing with fussy cutting this print. There are so many fun projects you can create with the circles and the diamonds!

I call the stripe “Aliens with Shades.” It’s a stripe, but when you look at it sideways, it looks like aliens—a football shape with two eyes inside.

How does this fabric line work with your embroidery patterns?

I am in love with what happens with the fabric when you fussy cut it. When I embroider, I usually use the fabric as a backdrop (and stitch designs on top). With these prints, fussy-cut fabric appliques don’t need anything more than a simple outline. So my embroidery comes with two options—a simple outline embroidery for using with the fabric, and then another version for using solid fabric and adding more stitching to it.

Sarah has designed two free quilt patterns using Transformation. One uses a jelly roll, and the other incorporates some of her embroidery work.

Jelly Roll Zig Zag Quilt

Caribbean Cruising

Click here to see the entire Transformation collection.

Click here to visit Sarah's website and see her embroidery designs.

Click here to find Sarah's two free Transformation quilt patterns.

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