New Fabric Line

Hello Everyone
It has been a very busy Fall. We designed and made tons of projects for Fall Market, make sure to check out some of these fabric company's website to see some of the free patterns we did.
Timeless Treasure, Marcus Fabrics, Studio E, Henry Glass, Red Rooster, P&B Textiles and David Textiles.

I have also been to Atlanta, Tucson, Houston and New York since my last post and finally as the holiday season arrives, things are starting to calm down.
I am very excited to announce I have been working with Fabri-Quilt on our next line of fabric. It has been 3 years since my last line and it took teaming up with my partner and husband to get this group completed. Here is a sneak peak of our "Under The Sea" fabric.

This is one of the panels included in the group. It is based on our ever popular "Under The Sea" applique pattern. I have added some new friends to the fish. I think my favorite is the Octopus. Let me know which one is your favorite in the comments below.

I will post new pieces and the quilts we designed from it in the future. I am also excited to be working on two new collections for Fabri-Quilt and will share them with you once they are out of my head and onto paper.

Hope everyone is safe and well.

Until next time......

Heidi

Blogging on my Ipad

When I got my Ipad last year, it was my plan to use it for blogging, sketching and managing our facebook and website. It has been a year and I am finally getting to figuring these things out. Technology is moving so fast that as soon as I get used to one program there is a newer, faster and stronger program available. Here is perfect example.

When got my Ipad last year, I went to write a blog and could not figure out how to get photos in my blog, or a way to schedule the blog to post when I wanted it to. One year later, there are several apps to help post blogs with photos and the one I am using "Blogsy" seems to work very well. Of course this is my first post using this software. So lets see how it works over the long haul.

I also finally started a Flickr page http://www.flickr.com/photos/thewhimsicalworkshop that I have started uploading our extensive quilt portfolio.

Hopefully all this new technology will let me post more often.

Until next time.....

Heidi

Posted with Blogsy

New friends

I met Wenche and Trond at last Fall's Quilt Market while we waited in this super long line. We spent a couple of hours in line so we got to know each other pretty well. These two came all the way from Norway to attend Quilt Market and to promote their quilting company "Northern Quilts". This Spring they had a booth to show her beautiful designs to everyone. They also dressed in traditional Norwegian costumes which were beautiful but a bit warm for the hot temperatures in MI.

Matthew and I were able to catch up with them for dinner the first night of the show and had a blast visiting with them. I wish them the best of luck on all the future endeavors and hope to see them again in the Fall.

Learning Something New this year

It is a new year, full possibilities. I have a ritual I do on the last weekend of every year. Clean up the old and get ready for the new. I go through UFO's (Unfinished projects) and sort them out as to what I will actually finish (or start) and what has been hanging around giving me a guilt trip. I take apart kits I am never going to do and put the fabrics back in my stash, I make a list of projects I need (or want to do) and move the important ones to the top of the pile. I give away the half-finished projects or toss them out.

I clean up my stash, if not longer have room for fabric, it is time to weed out the pieces I am never going to use and donate them to a charity group. I know some of you are freaking out at this suggestion but think of it this way. Fabric has a life too and don't you want it to fill it's potential. Isn't better if the fabric goes to live with a charity group that with put it to good use rather than sitting on your shelf wishing it had a purpose in its little fabric life. Just a thought.

Next up is my office, I clean out a years worth of job folders. This my chance to see what patterns and ideas we came up with through the year that can be recycled and used again. I get to review the design journey we traveled in the past year and reflect on what I have learned through these projects and believe me there is always something new to learn.

This is also the time I close the books for the year and get everything ready for the accountant. I go through those mystery piles we all have that creep up in our office over the year, things we do not know what to do with or don't want to deal with. I sort them out and deal with them. This way I know 2011 is at a close. I can move into 2012 with a clean slate (literally).

Because I do this yearly, it is not so bad and does not take long. This process also is a chance for me to look back on the year and the different projects I have done. I am able to reflect on my sucesses and my failures. I am mentally making my plan for the next year as I remove the mental and physical clutter from the past year. I am not sure when I started doing this process but I have done it for years and for me it is the only way to face the beautiful unknown road of 2012 with a happy, free spirit.
This year I am tackling knitting.......