Going Gangbusters for Art Gallery Fabrics

You've gotta love a really great, creative idea.  And it's even better when there are some really great people behind it.  That's why I was so excited to be invited to be a founding member of Art Gallery Fabrics' new "Fat Quarter Gang."

The idea of the Fat Quarter Gang is pretty simple: the oh so lovely Pat Bravo rounded up a group of bloggers and designers to form a little sewing group of sorts -- a sewing group that would combine their fresh, new sewing ideas with all of the gorgeous new fabrics coming out of Art Gallery HQ.  Then, once a week, a member of the group would share a new pattern or project idea on the Art Gallery Fabrics blog.

And so, from the streets of Miami, the Fat Quarter Gang was born.

But Pat, Anais, and the creative troupe at Art Gallery took their idea to the next level by totally embracing -- in a fun, lighthearted way, of course -- the "gang" part of the Fat Quarter Gang.  So each of us, as sweet and gentle as we may appear to be on our blogs -- embraced our inner sewing bada$$ and took some (completely embarrassing) member photos.

Here's mine:

Admittedly, it's one of the lamest.  Despite hailing from the mean streets of Brooklyn NYC, gangster doesn't come too easily to me.  But you MUST check out the other bloggers' photos -- some of them are PRICELESS.  You can find them all here.

I'm a bit late to the game in posting this, since the free project ideas kicked off on Monday, June 4th.  Here's what's been posted so far:

• Body Pillow by Rachel of P.S. I Quilt

• Ruffled Pouch Tutorial by Lee of Freshly Pieced

• Patchwork Bunting by Jeni of In Color Order

And finally, here are a few more fun facts about the gang:

• Every project that gets posted will have a giveaway for the EXACT fabrics used in the project over at the members blog (rules to that giveaway will be posted in each project). We will also randomly select lucky people to win patterns and such through the Fat Quarter Gang Flickr group. Feel free to post your projects as you make them... you never know when we are in the giving mood (and that's often.)
• Have a blog and think you can hang with the gang?  There are 4 guest spots open for blogging "newbies." After all 12 bloggers have posted their tutorials, the gang will have a spot open for a guest blogger (that could be you!) to post their project tutorial. This pattern will repeat itself for 1 year so you have 4 spots available.
• Also, if you have a blog, you can follow the gang by grabbing a "FQG button" located on the right side of the Art Gallery Fabrics blog!

Think you got what it takes? Submit your project ideas along with a link to your blog to anais.cowley@artgalleryfabrics.com. Who knows, you might end up with your own gang name and pic too.

Stay tuned for my first Fat Quarter Gang free project idea in July.

Quilters Take Raleigh -- This Friday!

I had a great time attending the Quilters Take Manhattan event last summer, sponsored by the Alliance for American Quilts (see my post here).  That's why I was excited to learn that the Alliance was bringing a similar event to my hometown of Raleigh, N.C. ... and even more excited when they again asked me to be part of it!

As part of the Original Sewing and Quilting Expo taking place at the Raleigh Convention Center this weekend, the AAQ has planned several great events.  On Friday evening I will be moderating what is sure to be a FANTASTIC panel discussion about one of my favorite topics: spotting trends in the quilting and fabric industry!

All the information you'll need can be found on the Quilters Take Raleigh Event at the Original Sewing & Quilt Expo page.  In the meantime, here's a short blurb about the event:

Join me on Friday, June 22 in Raleigh, N.C. at the Original Sewing and Quilt Expo to support the Alliance for American Quilts (Quilt Alliance) in their effort to document and preserve the art of quilting. Gold sponsors of this event are FreeSpirit and Rowan fabrics and you won't want to miss the fabulous goodies they are giving away to guests! 

Enjoy luscious chocolate desserts, refreshments and a lively panel discussion including me! Additional panelists for “From a Bird’s Eye View: Trendspotting from Across the Quilt World,” include “Quilt Dad” John Adams;  Cathy Alston-Kearney of the Heritage Quilters group of historic Warrenton, N.C.; Beth Hayes, Editor-in-Chief of McCall’s Quilting; Tula Pink, author and FreeSpirit Fabric designer; Cathy McKillip, innovative quilting retailer; Christine Zoller, contemporary quilt artist and Associate professor of Textiles at East Carolina University. 

Quilters themselves become part of the story during the debut of "Go Tell It at the Quilt Show" interviews with quiltmakers and the Quilt Alliance premiers its 2012 contest quilts "Home is Where the Quilt Is".

For all of my local NC quilters and friends, I hope to see you there!

Father's Day 2012

Just a quick post this evening to wish all the dads out there a Happy Father's Day! I'm blogging from NYC, where I've been able to spend a lovely couple of days with family and attending my cousin's wedding last night. The kids and I had a nice brunch today with my mother, brother and sister-in-law, and followed it up with a few hours of shopping in Soho. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Zakka Style Giveaway Winners

Wow.  It's been a month since my last post.  Sorry for being MIA.  I have most definitely been busy and have a LOT to blog about -- Quilt Market in Kansas City, our first-ever Fat Quarterly Community Retreat in London, my membership in the fun new Art Gallery Fat Quarter Crew, swap items (both sent & received), and other events -- but I've unexpectedly had to deal with a bit of real life lately, and blogging has fallen down in the list of priorities.  I hope to be around a bit more in the coming weeks and months, but it will likely be less than in the past for a while.  I appreciate your understanding.

For today, I wanted to announce the winner of the Zakka Style book giveaway.  Congratulations to Helen (who blogs at Archie the Wonder Dog) who said:

Archie the wonder dogMay 14, 2012 6:12 PMI don't think I've made anything that could be considered Zakka but I did find some lovely ribbon/trim in a shop last week - I bought some just in case I had a zakka moment!!

In addition to the book, I have 5 sampler packs of Aurifil thread to send to some lucky readers.  Congratulations to:

elnoracMay 14, 2012 9:16 PMGeez, a guy who sews... I love it! Your mug rug looks great. Have done some of the Sew Along and may tackle this project, too. Thanks to you, to LRStitched, and to the sponsors. 

Chez RooMay 15, 2012 12:18 AMI have made a few zakka style pouches with linen and cute fabrics. Thanks for the giveaway, I love the projects that I've seen. 

LoBo333May 14, 2012 11:37 AMI've never sewn anything that could be considered zakka, but you-all are making me want to. Thanks for the opportunity to win and thanks for the great inspiration. 

AliMay 17, 2012 7:39 PMThat's such a cute little cloud! I haven't made anything I'd consider Zakka, is it wrong I'm waiting for everybody to finish the sew a long so I can just browse ideas from more brilliant minds than mine before I try my hand at it? ;0 

FrancineMay 14, 2012 11:38 AMLove the mug rug - and finally have to order my copy of the book - the projects look so fun! I had to look up the def. of "zakka" lol but now that I know, I would say that all my projects attempt to be zakka. I love pillows, throws and things that are readily seen by guests.
Francine

If you are a winner, please email me with your mailing information and I'll be sure your prize is sent to you ASAP.