Where I am when I'm not here.

June 22, 2012

One of the ways that I keep myself inspired daily, is by sharing what I love in one way or another. Here on the blog, or Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest....

Did you know that I'm sharing mostly every day?

I find things I love, snap a pic and share on instagram & Facebook (and twitter too)

I find a picture that I love and I pin it, always adding to my ever changing inspiration boards.

It's my way of keeping track of the beautiful things I want to document and keep track of. And I love it, because I get to share with you! And get inspired by you!

Currently, I'm working on redesigning the kids rooms and so I'm collecting a lot of great room decor and playroom inspiration. But I'm also trying to lose weight from the past 2 (stressful!) years, and I've recently been collecting great recipes! Oh, and lets not forget kid's fashion which really inspires my fabric collections!

Anyways...I've been hanging out and chatting with you in these locations for a while now, and I don't mention it here very much!

I'm feeling the need to have some giveaways and parties over there....so hop on over to join the fun!

Hope to see you there!

Happy Friday everyone!!

Suggestions?

June 20, 2012

Ok. I need some major help here. This baby of mine turns 3 by the end of the month, and I don't really know what to do with myself. The other day, she woke up from a nap, and I grabbed my camera because she is growing up too fast!

She's not a baby-baby any more, and I'm going a little bit crazy. Suggestions??!??

Thank goodness she has the cutest baby faces, and she cuddles me like she's still an infant. She calls me "Moth-er" and nuzzles me like a puppy. She's my angel baby.

But three years old? There has got to be a ban on that sort of thing.

OUT TO SEA Embroidery PDF Patterns

June 12, 2012

Well hello! Here we go. New embroidery patterns that you've been seeing sneak peeks of.Yay! I really, really love these.

Last year's patterns were an unexpected hit. I knew people were starting to fall back in love with hand stitching...but I had no idea how much! It's been so fun to talk with you and see your projects! I love that hand embroidery gives such a personal touch to any project. It becomes personal, your own, and an art piece all on it's own! Because so many of you own Sarah Jane prints in your own homes....I am starting to create more of that feel in embroidery pieces. Something you can stitch to make a real statement...but that is easy and inexpensive, and will last forever. A real personal touch!

When I was a little girl, and maybe I've said this before? I dunno. But I had a crewel embroidered nursery rhyme wall hanging in my room. I always wanted to touch it. It was a "1-2 buckle my shoe" design, and I would stroke the threads as I walked by when I was in my mother's arms. It stood out to me so much, because it was art I could touch, and handle. And my mom's best friend made it as a baby gift, which made me feel connected to her. Handmade pieces connect people. They tell a story. And they can bring to life design, color, and texture. For me, it connected me to so many things. It's why I love it so much!

So...here we go! Let's get introduced!

These designs are lifted right from the OUT TO SEA fabric and they might look all fancy, but they are really not that hard. I wanted to keep them simple this time, and so all 4 can be completed at any skill level. I promise!

BE STILL

The only design that is inspired by, but not lifted exactly is the BE STILL piece. My favorite! This one was fun to make a really easy running stitch turn into the distant horizon of the sea. So sweet.

Remember this piece? I thought it would make the sweetest embroidery design. And it's nice to have something that isn't just for the kids:)

IF I HAD A SHIP

No, maybe this is my favorite. I LOVE this ship design. IF I HAD A SHIP, I'D SAIL THE SEVEN SEAS. It's inspired by a poem that I couldn't get out my head when I was designing the fabric collection. Do you know it?

I grew up listening to a Judy Dench recording of this poem. So when you read it, get all British and speak in a low, dramatic voice;)

The Island, by A.A. Milne If I had a ship, I'd sail my ship I'd sail my ship Through Eastern seas; Down to a beach where the slow waves thunder - The green curls over and the white falls under - Boom! Boom! Boom! On the sun-bright sand. Then I'd leave my ship and I'd land, And climb the steep white sand, And climb to the trees The six dark trees, The coco-nut trees on the cliff's green crown - Hands and knees To the coco-nut trees, Face to the cliff as the stones patter down, Up, up, up, staggering, stumbling, Round the corner where the rock is crumbling, Round this shoulder, Over this boulder, Up to the top where the six trees stand....

And there I would rest, and lie, My chin in my hands, and gaze At the dazzle of the sand below, And the green waves curling slow And the grey-blue distant haze Where the sea goes up to the sky....

And I'd say to myself as I looked so lazily down at the sea: "There's nobody else in the world, and the world was made for me."

It really makes such a wonderful wall hanging. (There will be a tutorial for this in August by the way!)

So, that's where the inspiration came from for this. And a lot of the OUT TO SEA fabric. So much imagination in those children's heads. They can go anywhere.

PIRATE KIDS

Then of course, pirates and mermaids!

DEEP BLUE SEA

Addie is my mermaid. She comes from a long line of Mermaids. Me, my mom, my grandmother....like literally. Mermaids. Water Babies. We love the ocean.

So there you go. Lots of stitching to do! But not too much. Just enough I think!

These will be ready with IRON-ON transfers in a month. Sorry :( not just yet! But the PDF'S are ready to go! I know a lot of people like to have both on hand, just in case. But this way, you can start stitching and be ready for when the fabric comes out later this summer!

Don't forget about the SARAH JANE EMBROIDERY FLICKR group which I have sorely neglected. Sorry. No more! Let's get stitching! The Fabric flickr group rocks. Lets do the same for the stitching one!

Happy Stitching!!

All Embroidery Patterns Available HERE.

Almost here

June 8, 2012

Well, So much for releasing those new PDF embroidery patterns this week like I promised!

Tuesday I got hit with probably the worst flu bug I've ever known. So intense I eneded up with xrays, which only proved it really was indeed a virus, and not a major concern. I'm just now coming back to life!

I have 4 new patterns that you can start working on that go directly with the OUT TO SEA fabric coming the first week in Aug.

Sorry for the delay, but I'll see you monday!

Happy weekend:)

sarah

Quilt Market 2012 Part 2: The Whole Story

June 1, 2012

How about a good story today. Yes?

This is the tale of how the OUT TO SEA fabric line came to life at the International Quilt Market in Kansas City, Missouri 2012.

Once upon a time...

(which is how all good stories start!)

I had a dream of a nautical collection for children that was whimsical, classic, fresh, full of children and stories, and seaside daydreams, and I just couldn't get it out of my head.

It had to have all the right parts, and nothing less. Boy fabrics, and girl fabrics...seamlessly coordinating, but still maintaining very distinct color feelings.

I needed to tell the story of children playing pirates, and dreaming of mermaids...and find just the right palette that parents would find beautiful too.

There had to be maps for voyages.

Characters to play the parts.

I needed prints for little tiny projects.

And prints for great big large projects.

I dreamed of making nautical very feminine...

But not letting go of the masculine "ARRRR...." that we all love so much.

I wanted it to be sweet enough for the baby-est of projects

But sophisticated for the ladies to use too.

{Image from here}

It needed to spark new ideas for quilting...

But be JUST the right size to make a statement for apparel as well!

I needed the Navy blue to really shine and not get overpowered by the traditional heavy reds...so I let it coordinate with just the right pinks, blues, greys and oranges to make it a modern and fresh take on a nautical theme.

And it all had to coordinate in just the right way!

* * * * * * *

But I needed to set the stage.

I wanted people to SEE all the possibilities I saw, and have had for the past 14 months!

I told my husband that I dreamed of a Cape Cod Cottage beach house on the coast...with a children's room full of bunks, porthole windows...and weathered wood walls.

(ahem...in pretend life...not real life, or he would have fainted on the spot:)

I roughed out a (rough!) sketch

Showed him a couple pictures on Pinterest...

And next thing I knew, he was tearing down our (very old, falling over and needing to be replaced) fence.

Little did I know that our backyard could come all the way to market with us, and totally set the stage.

It's the real deal! Leaves still attached and all!

Kenneth built the booth in our (very short) garage...

We packed everything in our minivan and uhaul trailer....

and drove 2 days straight to Kansas City!

But when we got there, we realized that we had built the booth for the wrong corner (I missed the memo that there had been a switch...I have made really silly mistakes in the past, and this is at the top of my list now!) so Kenneth would have to re-wire all the lighting, and rebuild 1/2 of the booth which basically put us about 8 hours behind. Take that with 90+ degree heat and humidity inside the building and two very long 14 hour days setting it up, and we were spent!

But of course, we still had loads of fun. It helps being married to your best friend and construction manager:) http://youtu.be/SEk0RN5bitI

Proof that he forgave me after about 14 minutes of discovering that bad news is in the video. He's a champ.

Thank goodness for both of us being really quick on our feet thinkers. And for a local Home Depot!

{image from here}

I still managed to dash upstairs to all the anxious attendants just antsy to see all the debuts at market. With sawdust in my hair I dashed up to present at Schoolhouse (where you attend classes presented by companies and people showing at market) and then dashed back down to get all in order for the 3 day show.

But the show was a success. At the start of the second day, I turned around to see a committee of people with a big fat ribbon...and I was speechless!

Quilt Market is an amazing show, full of incredible talent. And so when they awarded me with the Creativity Award, I literally burst into tears. It was well deserved after our hiccup and creative problem solving to get it up in time!

But the REAL thanks goes to all the friends who helped me sew up all the projects you see in the booth! I will be sharing LOTS more on that later, but this story....while it started as a very clear idea...sprung into a beautiful project that was so successful because of all the people involved! I can't thank my family and sewers enough!

I'll be sharing more on this later...but each project in the booth was designed for a BLOG TOUR once the fabric is launched August 5th. I'll be featuring each project here (and more!) with links to the respective sewer who will have a Free Tutorial and/or pattern available for you to make your own! Stay tuned in July for that.

So that is the story of how OUT TO SEA fabric by Sarah Jane was created and managed to sailed the across highway 80 to Quilt Market and and back again.

It was an amazing journey, and I plan on doing it again....and again....and again! Ken loves to build sets, and I love to design fabric, so I think we're in this for the long haul.

My next adventure now is to see what you all make with this!! I can't wait to share in all your projects too!

And because all good stories need to end with something funny and sweet, I'll send you off with this darling Narwhal.

(Tutorial coming with him too....can't wait for July!)

The End.

(Oh...I nearly forgot....did you spy embroidery designs? I did. Want to make them? I'll be posting them next week so you can get started! Yay for new embroidery designs!)

(And one last thing...You can see many of these images on my Pinterest Board here. Enjoy!!)

Quilt Market Part 1: Behind the Scenes

May 30, 2012

http://youtu.be/SEk0RN5bitI Ok. I'm back!

So...Quilt Market. Out to Sea Fabric. Michael Miller awesomeness. I'm ready to share all.

But not all at once!

Here's a little video we put together of set up.

It was so, so awesome to tackle this project of putting up a booth with my best friend and partner in crime.

We had a lot of challenges getting the booth up (more on that later!) but after winning the Creativity Award, I think it was all worth it!

Enjoy!

The Cherry on top

May 25, 2012

I am slowly emerging from the recovery of Quilt Market! It was a fantastic show! I want to share it all with the detail it deserves, which means I'll be posting all the yummy details next week.

The show was in Kansas City, which was a good 2 day drive. On the way home we ran into some car troubles which had us at our front door at 4 am. Painful, when we realized that Kenneth would be leaving for work at 6:15. Ouch.

But as beat down tired as we were, and with all the successes of the week at Market that we had, opening the front doorand walking into this project of Addie's that she placed right on the foyer rug, made it ALL worth it.

Translation: "Please don't ruin it. Signed, Addie"

But the real translation is: "I have missed you so much. So while you were gone for the week, I was sewing and designing too, just like you. It's my own special way of saying I want to be just like Mom and Dad."

If it weren't 4 am, and I wasn't so exhausted and bleary eyed, I would have burst into tears.

She had spent a day designing, cutting, sewing and pinning her own dress. My heart just wanted to burst. I haven't even really taught her how to do any of that, but she's been watching I guess. In all the hustle and bustle of prepping for the show, she wanted more than anything to do what her mom was doing. Sometimes when things get really busy here before a show, I always have such a careful eye on the children to make sure that they are still feeling loved, cared for and not feeling neglected...which could EASILY happen if I am not careful. This calmed my worried-mother heart in one single moment. Knowing that my kids take pride in what I do, and feel part of it in their own way, is the best feeling ever. All was well.

The details really shocked me. 3/4 length sleeves (at matching sizes) an open diamond back, stitching of some dirt and grass on the bottom hem....my only trouble now is how to sew it in one piece so we can take it off the model:)

And oh the pride when she woke up and showed us.

Quilt Market was a huge success. We won an award, had fantastic reception and over all it was worth all the work.

But this topped it off. Nothing could make me more delighted then my little girl trying her hand at it too.

Looks like we have some Mommy-daughter sewing to do all summer!

And if you want some details of market, make sure to check out Facebook and Instagram!

I'll be posting lots more next week! Happy Memorial Day weekend!

sarah

Introducing: OUT TO SEA

May 17, 2012

OK! Are you ready? Here we go! Introducing OUT TO SEA.....my latest collection with Michael Miller Fabrics.

Out to Sea has been on my mind for oh....maybe a year and a half now. I finally put it all together into 3 colorways, each telling a great story.

Golly! Where to start. I never know where to start...especially knowing this is your first introduction. Say hello!

Let's start with pictures, shall we?

So, do you have a minute? There is so much I want to tell you and show you...and I have a feeling that I won't be able to do it justice all in one post.

But I'll try!

So....when I was designing this collection, I paid a lot of attention to the classic elements of Maritime Fancies....but also to how children imagine and play.

This map print is a good example of that...perfect for running fingers through the ship paths (the above picture is embroidered by the way....the real fabric has printed dashed lines:) So this collection really has a good mix of larger scale fabrics, and small....which is my way of encouraging lots and lots of variations in project making.

Every child dreams of adventures on the sea...and this collection is my offering to the whimsy of maritime travel.

What I love about this fabric, is that it's considered quilting grade fabric, but the weave is a new quality called Cotton Couture, and is much, much softer and lighter than the traditional quilting grade. But....it's not 100% apparel grade either! I've been sewing bedding and quilts all week, and it's amazing to home dec, quilt and apparel with. My, my, my. I'm in love.

So wow! Here it all is!

As you are reading this, I'm standing in front of my Quilt Market booth with a high waisted skirt in the navy anchor fabric, and a sea flower peter pan collar. I adore that this collection is suitable enough for the older folk like me:)

I am running out of time, as my fingers are itching to finish up projects and get to Quilt Market! Can I show you more later? There is so much to play with, and I wish I had time for all my ideas!

So, wish me luck at Quilt Market!! I'll be thinking of all of you back home seeing this for the first time! It's always such a weird feeling to hit "Publish" on a post like this....hoping that a year's worth of color and design that has been stewing in my head is something you can get to know and love too!

More to share soon! I want to dive in deep with you all and show you how much fun I've been having with this fabric.

Love and hugs!!

xoxo sarah jane

And PS: because I know you will ask, this fabric will be in stores come Aug 1. Scheduling fabric releases is a very huge process, and there is so much time involved. But I'm going to be sharing tours of ideas (more on this later) to help you get ideas for what you can do with this collection so you are ready when it is available!