nanaCompany

these days | crafty planner episode 29

These days... I keep reminding myself, "work smarter, not harder" but I am so easily distracted.

In a few days I'm leaving for North Carolina where I'll be teaching a class at the Swapaholics retreat with a group of amazing sewists.  Preparations for that have pretty much consumed me (along with prepping for Fall Quilt Market, a major magazine job, and husband's birthday!) sooo ~ when I start to feel out of control and overwhelmed I invariably find something useless to do.  Something useless and repetitive.  Helps me think.

Decorating my postcards with tiny glassine envelopes filled with strips of fabric tape seemed like a good idea at the moment.  Such a pretty diversion, right?  Yep, then it was right back to tackling that to-do list ;)

Ordering info:

• Find the 2 1/8" glassine envelopes at Mind the Wrap on Etsy.
•  Find the Francoise stamp stickers at Chickydoddle on Etsy.
•  I order my postcards from Vistaprint. 

 

 

Sandi Sawa Hazlewood, the Crafty Planner, has had such an amazing line-up of guests on her podcast (just recently Denyse Schmidt and Jen Kingwell) ~ I'm more than honored to be featured on today's episode: "Crafty Planner" podcast: Episode 29.  If you'd like to hear the chatter of someone sweet, intelligent, and personable ~ that's Sandi.  I always make such a fool of myself.  Go listen in!

 

 

Ya know, I totally forgot to pick a winner for the miniature hoop necklace kit giveaway, so here goes...

Yay Heather (grace.is.mine.)!!  Please send me your mailing address and I'll ship it right out.  And for the rest of you, see all the awesome Dandelyne hoops available for purchase at Stitch Craft.

 

 

Meanwhile, I'm waiting on some very important fabrics to arrive so I've dusted off my stash of holiday prints + basics.  I'll leave you with a little glimpse of some secret sewing I've been doing for friends...

Not much to see here,  I know.  That's because it's supposed to be secret ;)

p.s. Pick up destash packs of Christmas/holiday prints + basics at my nanaCompany shop on Etsy now!

xo amy

Paperie ~ see the full collection!

No more sneaky peeking, no more teasing... it's all out there, girls!

Get a good look at Paperie, my Limited Edition collection (yes, all ten prints!) with Art Gallery Fabrics in their new Fall 2015 LookBook... click here to see.  Seriously, go check out every print!  And so many other gorgeous designs coming your way from the AGF family.  I'm truly in love.  

After you've checked out the LookBook lemme know what you think?  I've been so excited and nervous about this, I'd love to hear what's your favorite print?

xo amy

Sweet Tweets | Early Bird sewing

Some things are just a pleasure to make...

And this Early Bird Place Mat designed by Erin Cox of Why Not Sew? was definitely one of them.  I adapted it ever so slightly, but I loved working with Erin's pattern.  

Find this design and 10 others in Erin's debut book, Sweet Tweets: Simple Stitches, Whimsical Birds ~ published by Martingale.

{ The adorable pin cushion above was made by my friend, Minki of Sewing Illustration. }

So why was it such a pleasure?   Well, first of all, Erin is a friend of mine and I'm so happy to be sewing at last with her charming first book.  Secondly, and much more practical ~ it's nice sometimes not to have to do the math.  Or draw that perfect shape.  That's precisely why I buy patterns and books.  I like when someone else does the work for me and makes my life that much easier.

Erin's book is full of clear instructions, pretty pics, helpful illustrations, and the appliqué + patchwork projects are just so sweet.  It's the kind of sewing that you can accomplish in a day and gives you all the satisfaction.  The best kind of sewing ;)

Get a taste for the variety of Erin's fun sewing patterns during the Sweet Tweets Blog Hop ~ see the schedule below.  Bonus?  I'm giving away a free digital copy of the book to one lucky winner.  Leave a comment at the end of this post and I'll pick a winner next Monday, September 21st.  Enjoy the blog hop and good luck!

xo amy 

 Sweet Tweets Blog Hop

 

Tuesday, Sept.8 - Erin (Intro Post) Why Not Sew?  

Wednesday, Sept.9 - Heidi Fabric Mutt

Thursday, Sept.10 - Debbie A Quilter's Table

Saturday, Sept.12 - Jacque Brown Dog Prims

Monday, Sept.14 - Amy nanaCompany

Tuesday, Sept.15 - Svetlana s.o.t.a.k handmade

Wednesday, Sept.16 - Renee Sewn With Grace

Thursday, Sept.17 - Martingale Stitch This! The Martingale Blog

Friday, Sept.18 - Heather Vintage Grey Handmade

Saturday, Sept.19 - Clara and Jennie Clover & Violet

Monday, Sept.21 - Amanda Jean Crazy Mom Quilts

Tuesday, Sept.22 - Cindy Live a Colorful Life

Wednesday, Sept.23 - Carla Grace and Favour

Thursday, Sept.24 - Mary Molly Flanders

Saturday, Sept.26 - Erin, Big Giveaway Post!!! Why Not Sew?

 

Sneak Peek: Paperie

Ready for a tease...

Here's a taste of what you can expect from Paperie, my Limited Edition collection with Art Gallery Fabrics coming out this fall!  So excited!  Are you ready for more?

xo amy

one last bit of summer sewing: Mendocino!

Here's a pic that only we can appreciate, I realize.  How many times do you look at your trimmings and think, 'gosh they're so pretty!  I know!  So this one's for us.

Over the summer I had a little secret sewing project and now I can finally reveal it!   Windham Fabrics is reissuing Heather Ross' gorgeous line Mendocino next spring, and they sent some over my way to play with.  I made a quilt!

A simple quilt, made of 20 nine-patch blocks with sashing.  Instead of white, I used Windham 1930's Ivory solid for the sashing and I love how warm it looks.  (The nine-patches are made of half-square triangles, and each HST unit measures 3".) 

Basically this quilt is a study in color.  And it's a cozy 43" x 53" ~ so the perfect lap quilt.  If I were to do it again, I would make the HST units larger, maybe 5" each, in order to see more of Heather's fun prints and make the quilt larger.  But I love this little cutie.  Gotta love Mendocino ~ look for it in shops March 2016! 

xo amy

p.s. Make sure and come by tomorrow for a fun sneak peek at my new fabric collection with Art Gallery Fabrics:  Paperie!

The secret's out xx

You guys!!  I'm so excited!

Today I am a fabric designer.  Happy day!  It's better than a happy day, it's ~ oh, I can't even tell you ~ it's just a dream come true.  This morning,  Art Gallery Fabrics announced me as a new Limited Edition designer~ joining a dream team of artists doing the most wonderful things with fabric.

If you'd like to get more of the juicy details and see a teensy SNEAK PEEK AT MY COLLECTION, head over to Art Gallery Fabrics: The Creative Blog.

I'm off to celebrate!  (insert confetti, fireworks, and bursting heart emojis here)  

xo amy!!!