Whoooo's Watching?

Judy Hansen's new collection, Nite Owls, just came in and we couldn't wait to share it with you!

Last fall, Judy designed Cook's Helper (more on that below). How did she get from cakes and sprinkles to hooting owls?

With a little help from the talented Mr. Van Gogh.

''I love the stars and swirls in the sky of Van Gogh's painting, Starry Night,'' Judy says. She created her own swirls and stars, added a moon, and then thought, ''What goes better with a night sky than a night owl?"

And the rest was history.

(Or is that hoot-story?)

''Nite Owls'' comes in both color and black and white—we mixed the two below to show you how the pop of color can add some great contrast to the spooky black and white. (Halloween quilt, anyone?) 

Black and white prints with a few color coordinates thrown in 

The full range of prints in color

Find Judy Hansen's free quilt pattern, "Peek-a-boo Nite Owl," featured on our website.

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With summer in full swing, it's the perfect time to do some simple sewing and no-bake cooking with kids (keep them busy while they're out of school!)

We mentioned Judy's Cook's Helper fabrics earlier--there's a panel apron sized for children, and a print that features easy recipes like root beer floats, ants on a log, and purple cows.

 Click here to see more of the collection and read about how Judy's days as a preschool teacher inspired the prints.

You can find the Nite Owl and Cook's Helper fabrics, as well as more information about Judy, on her website.

Small-Scale High Fashion

If you're a follower of this blog, you've seen Judy Hansen's two most recent lines, Garden Whimsy and Cook's Helper in quilts, aprons, bags, and more, but we bet you've never seen these fabrics on Barbie dolls!

Until today.

Rita Nussbaumer, a sewer who shops at Judy Hansen's store, Quilt Shop of Deland, shared her story with us. Through a pastor friend, Rita contributes shoeboxes of basic hygiene items and toys that are sent on mission trips for needy children.

The boxes are supposed to include a toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, bar of soap and a facecloth (which Rita knits), then she adds a coloring book, crayons, balloons – ''whatever other little treasures I find on clearance,'' she says, as well as pencils and a pencil sharpener.

Last year, Rita began buying used Barbies and making clothes for the dolls to go in the little girls' boxes, many of whom have never had a doll. Enter Judy's fabric. ''I saw Judy's main print [from the Garden Whimsy line)—it's small but it has so much color that you can put anything together with it. It was just perfect!" She uses old patterns from when her daughters were young, and aims for finger-friendly clothing for easy wardrobe changes.

From August through November last year, Rita stitched clothes and hunted down/received used Barbies for 40 boxes. This year, she started right after winter, and has 5 big boxes of clothes already made. A gift certificate she received for Christmas went toward more of Judy's Garden Whimsy fabrics, as well as some from Cook's Helper.

Friends scout yard sales for used Barbies, buying them for $1-$2 each, and Rita cleans them up, combs their hair, dresses them. ''I usually put one robe in the box with a nightie with a long and short bottom, a jumpsuit, a dress, jumper, undies, and a variety of blouses with shorts, slacks, culottes, knickers and skirts - all mix and match to make more outfits,'' Rita says.

''The kids carry those shoeboxes around for years because that's all they have what's in that box. I can sew some scraps together and give them something special," Rita says.

Rita, thanks so much for sharing your story!  

Friends of Fabri-Quilt Gallery

Wouldn't baking cookies be three times as fun with these adorable kitchen helpers? 

Fabri-Quilt friend Judy Glover bought one Cook's Helper apron panel when Judy Hansen spoke at the Racing Fingers Quilt Guild in Ormond Beach, FL, this past fall. (The Guild's name comes from the group's proximity to the Daytona Speedway!)
A self-described "baby quilter" who has been quilting for just a few years, Judy then decided she needed to make aprons for two friends' little girls, in addition to her own granddaughter. So she bought two more panels. One of Judy's quilting friends recommended that she line the aprons, so she did. She gave the girls the aprons for Christmas.
Pictured are Judy's granddaughter Mia (in the middle) and her two little friends, Hayden and Ava. It looks like all three girls are aspiring cooks and hopefully sewers as well!
Judy says that now all of her friends with granddaughters are asking her to make aprons for them. She's willing to show them how, but will leave the sewing to them!

Have you made a project using Fabri-Quilt fabric? Send a photo and your contact information to fabriquiltblog (at) gmail.com and we may feature you on the blog!

Time for Some Kitchen Fun!

Has your sweet tooth subsided since Halloween has passed? Because we've got some temptations for it today--ice cream and sprinkles and cake! Today we're introducing you to Judy Hansen's latest collection, Cook's Helper, perfect for getting little ones excited to help in the kitchen!

''This line is part of my heart,'' Judy says. I was an elementary school teacher and when my daughters were little, I taught preschool. We cooked once a week."

Judy standing in front of the Cook's Helper area of the booth at Market, holding a delicious fabric cake!

Q. How did this line come to be?

Judy: It's all about the apron. Fabri-Quilt asked me if I wanted to do a Christmas apron, and I thought they'd said a children's apron. From there, it went to the recipe cards.

A 2-for-1 deal: fabric and recipes!

The child's apron panel, with size-adjustable neck and
waist ties, and add-on ice cream cone pockets!

Looks so cute on!

Q. Tell us about the recipe cards.

Judy: The recipe cards are from when I taught. I looked back through my notes from teaching preschool and wrote up easy no-heat required recipes we'd used: rootbear floats, purple cow, peanut butter sandwich, cheese and crackers…

I wrote the recipes on 3x5 rectangles in a childish scrawl. You can turn the recipe card fabric into actual recipe cards—fuse them to another piece of fabric, cut them out, and satin stitch the edges. They're great for playing in the kitchen, and they're even washable!

Q. Did you do the crayon drawing for the fabrics?

Judy: Yes. We made a font for my writing. The designs—all of them are my coloring. Very much my designs, scribbles, tweaks, etc.

Look at the fabric cupcakes and cones, plus the sweet little recipe box and cards! 

Here's a free pattern, called "It's A Party" by Judy Hansen, available on our website.

Judy is sharing a few of her favorite no-heat recipes, straight from the fabric collection's recipe cards. We hope you'll enjoy trying some of this easy "cooking" with kids in your life (or just for yourself!).

DIP & VEGGIES 

Dry onion soup mix - couple spoonfuls

Sour Cream - 1/2 cup

Mix up soup & cream

Your favorite cut up veggies

carrots, celery, cucumber, zucchini

Put on plate with dip

Eat! Yummy!

ROOT BEER FLOAT

Vanilla Ice Cream

Root Beer - chilled

To Make: Put Ice cream in plastic cup

Pour Root Beer slowly over top

Stir it up & add a straw!

ANTS ON A LOG

Eat & Drink! Yummy!

Short  Celery Sticks

Peanut Butter & Raisins

To Make:   Wash and dry Celery

Spread Peanut Butter on Celery

Sprinkle "Ants" Raisins on top

Eat! Yummy!

How a booth at Quilt Market comes together...

We are back with a post-Quilt Market report! (You can read about getting ready for Quilt Market here.)

The booth is our opportunity to show off our new fabric lines and offer inspiration as to what those fabrics can become: quilts, aprons, placemats, wall hangings, etc...

Let's start the tour! 

Here are two overall shots of the booth, toward the end of set up. (After everyone's booths have been set up, the exhibit hall crews come back and carpet the aisles.)

This section showcases Peggy Sue, Dancing Cranes, Folk Heart, and Pretty in Pink.

This section showcases Cook's Helper, Marblehead, Budding Beauties and Sorrento.

Backing up to set-up, our assigned area started out looking like this:

And ended up like this:

Pretty impressive transformation in a day, isn't it? We have a great team.

Now, onto some close-ups!

The Budding Beauties sample quilt and pouf in the background, a table with a Garden Whimsy placemat in the foreground. All of the chair covers you see in these photos are made from Marblehead prints.

A couple quilts that you're recognize: Marblehead Northern Woods and Joan Shay's Harvest Home, using Marblehead.

Cook's Helper, a Judy Hansen collection that we'll be sharing with you later this week, and a little Garden Whimsy.

A wall hanging and jacket made from Dancing Cranes, as well as the Peggy Sue At the Hop quilt off to the left.

Sara Trail's Folk Heart, shown in an apron, quilt and bag.

Do you remember the Hopi Opportunity quilt? We brought it to Market to hang in the booth, where it received many compliments. You can still buy raffle tickets to win it--click here for contact information. Off to the right, the free pattern quilt for Pretty in Pink.

A unique tote bag by Cathy Miles, made from Marblehead Global Brights.

Who needs fresh flowers when you can have gorgeous blooms by Kim Denault made from Marblehead prints that will last all year long?!

 A close-up of the Pretty in Pink quilt.

Kitchen items made from the Sorrento collection.

Whew! How's that for inspiration? We were thrilled to be able to show off so many different fabric lines and quilting/sewing ideas in our space. 

p.s. Don't forget that you can find free patterns for the QUILTS shown in these photos on our website!