I arrived home last night from Quilt Market in Pittsburgh. Quite the whirlwind trip. I’ll be sharing pictures all week of the fabulous booths and wonderful people I had the opportunity to meet.
I also brought back a ton of incredible new patterns and fabric samples which I’ll be giving away. A single drawing next Monday. If you leave a comment on any post this week (leave one on each post for more chances to win) you’ll be eligible.
I made these samples out of silk dupioni for the Brewer Booth. I’m going to leave you with that while I go get caught up on all the work I didn’t do for 4 days!
Gather Up Pillow, free pattern coming soon to a blog near you:
And what would samples be without a Mail Sack:
Update 5/18/09:
I should have mentioned the pencil sharpener button in the original post. Isn’t that cool?! I saw it on a pencil roll that Holly posted to the Friends of Pink Chalk Studio Flickr Group. I googled for them online and found eBay seller Stelyn Arts that I purchased them from. Yes, they came from the UK, I REALLY needed those buttons. I highly recommend the seller.
To answer some of the questions in the comments on sewing with silk:
Sewing with silk is so easy and fun. I’ve used it a lot in the past but had to back off a bit for pattern writing. Not exactly something you’d want to feature on the cover of a pattern intended for sale in a quilt shop. When Brewer asked me to make some samples for market I was ecstatic. They wanted to highlight the availability of silk dupioni to their wholesale customers with samples from patterns they also distribute. They let me select colors and sent me the yardage.
I generally back the silk with interfacing if the seam is going to have any stress on it. For the pillow design I interfaced the center gathered column because it would have raveled beyond recognition when pulling the basting stitches. I then used a foundation piecing technique for the whole thing. I’ll talk more about that when I post the pattern.
I love how silk adds richness and texture to the patchwork project. I also mixed silk, wool, corduroy and quilting cotton on the patchwork pillow I made for my ASG challenge. I used silk taffeta on that project and backed the silk squares with interfacing before piecing.
Kathy Mack
Carrie + Diana
Your patterns in silk look great! I haven’t worked whit silk so far. Isn’t it very slippery and hard to handle while sewing?
Hi Kathy! I’m late catching up on reading your blog but you have been so busy!
Just wanted to say that I also love sewing with silk (dupioni especially) and I have made your notetaker with silks before for a gift. So beautiful! I love your samples you made for Brewer.
These are so vivid!
The silk is abolutely gorgeous. I am completely inspired.
That gathered pillow is gorgeous. I am loving the colors – a great contrast!
Can’t wait to make that gathered pillow! It’s sleek and gorgeous and a must-have addition to my house!
The pencil sharpener button makes the project. It was the first thing I noticed, but then I am button obsessed.
I love the pencil roll! I have the last minute gifts books that features that product and have made a few of them! One for colored pencils, one for crochet hooks, and one for knitting needles!
Truly, ALL the booths look wonderful! Going to the quilt market would be like wandering through a candy store and trying to choose just one mouth watering bon bon from sooo many!!
That silk is luscious looking.
Thanks so much for the shout out on the buttons! Let me know if you need some more and I’ll just send them right over! It looks great on your pencil roll.
I love the look of silk and the texture but have been afraid to try sewing with it. Maybe it is time I gave it a try.
Sue Cahill (sbonetsue at yahoo dot com)
Beautiful projects!
Wow the colors of the silk is amazing! I absolutely love the pillow!
I love the idea of the coloured pencil holder. Good way for the little ones to keep thing sorganized!
Yummy colors and I love the sheen of silk!
More stripes! Love that stripey pencil roll.
Jody
Kathy, these are beautiful! I love silk but have only used it in crazy quilt foundation piecing (except for raw silk, which I find much easier to piece with).
One question – when you post the pattern, could you specify what type of interfacing you use? Thanks so much.
Oops, cancel my last comment – I followed a link in True Up and didn’t realize this post was from last year. Apologies!
Just saw this link on True Up and had to check it out!