Jelly Roll Madness Month starts NOW

All Jelly Rolls that are IN STOCK are only $25 (plus shipping) Better get over there and get them because there is a very limited supply available. Oh, and you might want to pick up some yardage because it's such a bummer when you get a pretty top all finished and realize you don't have any coordinating yardage for the back or some borders.

Happy Stitches,
Anna

Design Wall, continued

                                       

Here's what I worked on yesterday with a new pattern I just got in from Threaded Pear. It's called Sugar Free and uses either a Layer Cake and a Jelly Roll (for a bigger quilt) or 2 charm packs and a Jelly roll (that's what I'm using) I finally decided to just chop up my yummy precuts of Figgy Pudding from YEARS ago! I love the Basic Grey fabrics, especially their holiday lines. In fact, I REALLy regret not getting any yardage at the time of getting these precuts because finding yardage of Moda Figgy Pudding is practically impossible. Luckily their newer line called Fruitcake is a little easier to get. I think it's rather hilarious that it's about two days before Christmas and I finally got inspired to make a Christmas quilt! But this pattern is SOOOO easy I mean, I literally started on it yesterday and the top is really ALMOST done. I think I'll be able to get the top finished tonight. I LOVE patterns like that. In fact, I'm thinking about having a Sugar Free quilt workshop, just come in and spend some time making this quilt. I bet you could get it done between 6pm and midnight. Unfortunately, I don't have much in the way of Christmas fabric in stock, but I bet this would also make up pretty awesome with a Sugar Pop Charm Pack and Jelly Roll. Sorry about the horrible picture, it's a rather grey day and the lighting isn't very good around here.

Happy Holiday Stitches,
Anna

Moda Bake Shop Update

It's Wednesday, must be time for our weekly update of the GREAT tutorials on Moda Bake Shop! Haha, just kidding, but I did notice that there is an awesome new tutorial just for JELLY ROLLS! And guess what? There is only ONE more day left of Jelly Roll Madness Month! Have you used your coupon code yet? I'm sure the madness will continue in to October anyway. So here is what I found on Moda Bake Shop.

This is called the That's the Ticket Pillow and I think it's AWESOME! Sooo cute! What a great way to use up some JR strips you have left over from some other projects.
There is another tutorial over there for a very cute Diaper Bag but I cannot "borrow" the picture so I encourage you to jump on over there and download the PDF pattern anyway. Then hop over to Crafty Girls Workshop and buy a jelly roll or two (use your coupon code for a 10% discount) and you'll be on your way to a fast, fun, and easy project to keep or give as a gift. And don't forget that if you happen to have made any items we'd LOVE to see pictures of them in our Sew and Show flickr group (linked in the tabs at the top of the blog.) More to come tomorrow!

Happy Stitches,
Anna

New Poll, PLEASE Answer!

Hey! Check out the sidebar over there ---------------->

I just posted a new poll because I want YOUR feedback about which precut to feature next month (and the next month, etc.) Maybe you don't really like jelly rolls but you LOVE charm packs or you LOVE layer cakes but just wonder what you'd EVER do with them!? Let me know and I'll do a feature for an entire month! Hopefully this will help me with my blogging schedule and I just love to get reader/crafty girls input. I'm looking forward to your replies.

Don't forget:

GIVEAWAY of Buttons and RICK RACK from Little Red Cottage

Jelly Roll Quilt Along

Happy Stitches,
Anna

Fat Quarterly Blog Quilt Along

Quilt Along at Fat Quarterly

Hop on over to the Fat Quarterly Blog for Step 3 of the Jelly Roll Quilt Along! This week's step is actually piecing the blocks! Anyone participating? I thought about it last week and planned and planned and never got around to cutting the pieces. Silly me. Too much going on! Maybe this Saturday at the SA Modern Quilt Guild Sewing Saturday I'll be able to work on it some. Missed some steps? Here they are in order.

Step 1 Gather your materials
(This post has a coupon code for CGW for 10% off your order!)

Step 2 Cutting Instructions

Step 3 Block assembly

Step 4 On the Home Stretch
Check back next week for the next step!

(If you are participating, PLEASE leave a post here to let me know! There may be a GIVEAWAY in your fuure!)

Happy Stitching,
Anna

September: Jelly Roll Madness Month at Crafty Girls Workshop

I know it's a couple of days early, but if you happen to be like me you probably appreciate a couple days advance noticed on things. Yep, it's true, I am officially declaring September to be Jelly Roll Madness Month!! That means that all month long I'm going to search out posts around blog land to find great projects and ideas to make using jelly rolls! Mostly this was inspired by the

Fat Quarterly blog's Jelly Roll Quilt Along

and then I saw the CUTE tutorial by Sarah B on Moda Bake Shop for making that

AWESOME Pleated Skirt (plus BONUS applique!)

and of course I just LOVE the

Random Reflections Quilt on MBS (Fandango JR plus a Bella Snow JR).

So right there are THREE great projects to make using a jelly roll! Would you like to play along with all the JR Madness fun? If so, use the cute badge I created to post a link to this post and share your great ideas for JR Madness! You can use the BIG picture I have at the top of this post (please link back here to to my shop) or use this cute smaller one I whipped up. Just right-click and choose Save Picture As... then paste it into a blog post or on your sidebar and link it back here to http://blog.craftygirlsworkshop.com/

I'd LOVE to see what YOU can make with a Jelly Roll!

Also, check out the Jelly Roll page of the Moda Bake Shop blog, this is an index of ALL their posts using just jelly rolls! At the end of JR Madness Month I plan to add a permanent link to all the posts about Jelly Rolls in a new tab at the top of this blog. I want it to be super easy for you to decide what to do with your precut fabrics.

Happy Stitches,
Anna

Jelly Roll Pleated Skirt Tutorial on Moda Bake Shop

Pattern Click Here

Isn't this just the cutest skirt ever? It just uses one jelly roll and the instructions say you can get more than one skirt out of a single roll!  This is one of the FREE tutorials on Moda Bake Shop, which is one of my go to sites for great patterns using precuts. Well, guess what? As of today, we have this EXACT jelly roll, from the Origins line by Basic Grey, in the shop and as an added bonus you can use the coupon code JR10 to get a 10% discount off your ENTIRE order! I think this skirt would be awesome done up in the new Bliss jelly roll by Bonnie and Camille OR the Fandango jelly roll by Kate Spain. The tutorial, a debut by Sarah B of SaraB Designs, is really well written with lots of photos PLUS Sarah gives an added BONUS of the applique pattern needed for that adorable t-shirt on her blog! Thank you Sarah! So why don't you roll on over to the shop and grab yourself an Origins jelly roll to make up this skirt and pick out a second JR to get ready for the Fat Quarterly Quilt Along which starts in September! Don't forget to use the coupon code upon checkout!

Happy Stitches,
Anna

P.S. We have 4 BOLTS of coordinating yardage in the Origins line plus 4 BOLTS of coordinating Fandango yardage, in case you just need a little extra while you're taking advantage of that DISCOUNT!

Bella Solid Precuts - Inspiration

1. Book Cover, 2. Christa's quilt: front, 3. DSCN1183, 4. Aqua HST's -- Off Center Diamond ., 5. 106_2616, 6. fair and square 2, 7. In the Window, 8. tiny ticker tape, 9. Figure 1.1, 10. New project, 11. snips, 12. spare change quilt, 13. building blocks14. Not available15. Not available16. Not available

Lately, I've been very pepped up about the new solid precuts that Moda has released. I've seen more and more modern/contemporary quilts that use solids, which is sort of funny since the Amish only used solids anyway, but the look is distinctly modern and fun! I'm not exactly an expert on the history of this style, but I first noticed it when I got the book Material Obsession which was written by two awesome women in Australia. It seemed as though the quilters in Australia had chosen to use lots of white in the sashing to really make the colors of the printed fabrics they chose pop off the quilt. Of course, AmandaJean from Crazy Mom Quilts was also a big proponent of white sashing and a simple but sort of modern design of quilt. I was soooo excited when Moda announced back in April that they would start making precut charm squares (5" squares), layer cakes (10" squares) and even jelly rolls (2.5" strips) in solid colors! The charms are absolutely PERFECT for making half square triangles, resulting in beautiful pinwheel quilts, or even for making a coin quilt. The Jelly Rolls just happen to be the PERFECT size for sashing (or at least the size I usually use) at 2 1/2" strips. And that means LESS cutting and MORE time for SEWING and QUILTING! Yippee!! Thanks MODA!! But Moda even went a step beyond that, they put together some amazing combinations of their Bella Solids into those precut lines, I'm trying out the 1930s line which even though it seems specific to a time period, it's not, if you look at it away from the time period context. To me, putting those beautiful saturated colors, they are all solid, against a white or even black background (by surrounding them with strips of those colors) will really make a rather modern statement. They also have a line of precuts that use the Marbles, which are an incredible array of marbley (is that a word?) colors. The specific one I purchased for the shop is called Citrus and I LOVE it, I can't wait to put it together with one of our Bella Solid Black jelly rolls to make those Marbles just JUMP off the quilt! Just look at how this beautiful quilt came together with solid strips and some grey to set it off.





If you'd like some more inspiration, check out the Fresh Modern Quilts Flickr group, where I went to grab most of the pictures in the above mosaic.

So what do you think? Do you like the idea of modern quilts or do you prefer lots of prints? Spill the Beans!!

Happy Stitches,
Anna

P.S. Did you notice the new tab up at the top for Fun Project Links? You should check it out. It's a place where I'm putting some links to ideas of what to do with different size cuts or colors of fabrics.

Catching Up

Wow, now that I've been back from the Moda retreat for a couple of days I almost feel like I'm getting caught up! I didn't realize how tough it is sometimes to be away from the computer for long boughts at a time. That did help me refocus though on the most important part of Crafty Girls Workshop, our customers and friends. There is still time to comment Saturday's post to be entered in the drawing for a secret suprise we received at the retreat!

While we were at the Moda retreat we just couldn't HELP but go through the warehouse and stock up on some more fabrics. Here is a glimpse of what we have newly listed in the shop for you:

A Breath of Avignon - Precuts and Coordinating yardage

Martinique by 3 Sisters

NEW Honey Buns, Jelly Rolls and Layer Cakes and MORE yardage

We found some bolts of Arcadia by Sanae which was SUPER popular and we found FOUR coordinating bolts AND honey buns!

New Freebird by Momo and charms are available!

There are so many more new items available, I'll have to spread them out into another post, but be sure to take a look at our patterns section. We have everything listed with NEW items to show up first!

Happy Shopping!

Happy Stitches,

Anna

L'amour is in the Air

L'amour by Sandy Gervais

From what I've seen around bloggy land, everyone seems to really be getting into the holiday spirit, seems like it's just about the right time to start promoting Valentine's fabric!! Actually, we really liked this new line, L'amour, by Sandy Gervais, because even though some of it is seasonal, a lot of it isn't. We have many precuts for you, finally, a reason to purchase the book called Layer Cakes, Jelly Rolls, and Charm Quilts! We have some cute charm packs:
We've been told we have the best price on charms on all of Etsy.

We have the scrumptious Jelly Rolls, perfect for tote bags and quick quilts:

And we have fat quarter bundles that we'll be splitting up into Short Stacks, don't forget you can always create your own Short Stacks by purchasing the listing called Create Your Own Short Stack. There are SOO many cute patterns out there that used fat quarters and these would make up into some CUTE gift baggies for your children's best friends for V-day or just for anytime. Fill them with cookies, candy, or some crayons and a coloring book. The pinks and browns are perfect girly girl colors.

If you need a little more inspiration, we have several books and patterns that are specifically made for precuts. We have an awesome book just about jelly roll patterns called Let the Good Times Roll. You can find the patterns for the precuts in the same section of our shop as the precuts you are searching for. So for example, if you are curious what other Jelly Rolls we have, just choose the Honey Bun/Jelly Rolls link on the right side of the shop home page. We want to make it super easy for you to find fabric and complimentary patterns in our shop. Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Stitches to You,

Anna

NEW Fabric Roll Call

Simple Abundance.....check

Mill House Inn ...........check

Aster Manor ..............check

Rouenneries ...............check

THEY ARE HERE! YIPPEE!!

What types of precuts do we have?

• Charm packs (5" squares)
  
• Jelly rolls (2 1/2" strips)
  
• Honey buns (1 1/2" strips)
  
• Fat quarters (18" x 22" cuts)

And guess what else? We also have plenty of patterns to go with these precuts.

So stop on by our shop and say hello! If you can't purchase today, that's alright, just mark our shop or the item you {heart} with a heart and be sure to tell your loved ones where they can find that list. We're also happy to make up a custom gift certificate if you would like, in any amount, NO SHIPPING required on the gift certificates! Until next time.

Happy Shopping and Happy Stitches to You,

Anna and Regina

The Crafty Girls

Pre Cut Fabrics

Hi All,
Well, I don't know about you, but I am completely in love with the pre-cut fabrics from Moda. When I first fell in love with sewing and quilting about five years ago (wow, has it already been five years?) I would just drool over the fat quarter packs because it meant I could get just a little bit of every fabric in a line. Unfortunately, I usually found it to be cost prohibitive, because $100 for fabric seemed like a lot (hasn't that changed!) Then, when they introduced the charm packs it was like a sign from above! Now I could get a piece of every fabric and only have to pay around $8 or $10! But what to do with those little collections? I've found a few projects to do with them, but I still have several untouched charm packs in my fabric stash. Well, I think you can guess where this is going, imagine my surprise when Jelly Rolls were introduced! I guess I am just a sucker for pre-cut fabrics. I mean, it seems to have really reduced the amount of time I have to spend cutting so I can spend more time quilting! The funny part is I have yet to really dig in and make anything from the Jelly Rolls or the Honey Buns. And I noticed that Moda has something new coming out soon called Petit Fours, which I believe are little tiny squares of each fabric, probably about 2-1/2" I am sure I'll love those too, even though I usually prefer to strip piece squares. That's why I haven't fallen in love with the Turnovers. I just can't imagine trying to sew all those triangles, I really just prefer to "cheat" by using two squares, draw a line down the middle and sew 1/4" on either side. I suppose that works if you're making half square triangles but if you want to do something like a snowball quilt, getting yourself a Layer Cake and a set of Turnovers would probably be easier. Recently I mentioned to a shop owner that although I love the Honey Buns and have been buying them like crazy, I still don't really know what to do with them. She suggested buying a charm pack and Honey Bun in the same line and using the strips to frame out the sqares. That sounded like a pretty good idea to me. So of course I bought the fabrics, but have yet to try the pattern! So, what do you think about pre-cuts? I mean, I'm giving away a charm pack so of course I have seen that over 150 people really like the idea of charm packs, but are you as smitten with them as I am? Please leave me a comment (this is still market research you know) if you are as in love with them as I am. We hope to have some new items to put in the shop soon. I've noticed that 25 people have responded to the poll on the sidebar. While that's great, I would love to have 50 or 60 responses to get a better feel for what I should offer on the Crafty Girls Workshop. Thank you to everyone who has commented to enter the drawing by the way. I feel like I'm making so many new friends!

Happy Stitches to You,
Anna
The Techy-Crafty Girl

P.S. Have you visited the Moda Bake Shop? It has tons of great "recipes" a.k.a. patterns and instructions for making cute things with all their pre-cut fabrics!