Australian Quilters Companion

This month we were featured in TWO sections,
as well as on the cover of an Australian quilt magazine!
(see above)

The first section showcases a quilt that uses one of our earlier fabric lines, Botany. It's designed by Liz Pinczewski and quilted by her friend, Adri, a professional long arm quilter... both from Australia. The quilt is called Coco's Midnight Garden... named after her dog, Coco. (We're all over the "quilts named after pets" idea... my mom once designed a quilt that we have hanging up in our studio named Rudy Rules... after our sweet boy, Rudy.)

Liz has a super cute write-up about the whole experience on her blog, Quilterie.

Her quilt design is a nice modern take on the traditional Log Cabin block, and it's especially great because it requires only 1 jelly role... plus batting, backing, and some dark background fabric... which is awesome... jelly roles definitely make it possible to use an entire line of fabric without completely breaking the bank!

The second article that we're in is actually a write-up... ON US! Entitled "Meet the Jungs: Lauren and Jessi". And as far as write-ups go, this covers everything... each of our backgrounds, our start-up, the team dynamics, our first two fabric lines, plus, about ten photos of various projects we've done using these two lines. It's absolutely unbelievable... And really, a bit surreal... and we both couldn't be happier with it!

(This magazine is published in Australia, however it's available here in the US at various book stores as well as Amazon... but I haven't seen this particular issue yet.... probably later on this summer.)

Botany Backdrop

As I've probably mentioned in previous entries, my roommate in Atlanta was a girl named Megan Kibby, who has since become quite the little photographer.

Her ideas/compositions are unique and off-the-wall and that's what makes them so completely fabulous. The photos in this blog entry (in my opinion) show off one of her more brilliant concepts!

Daniel and Alicia (two of Megan's clients) were wanting a natural/ eclectic/ Anthropologie style wedding, and she thought the fabric would make the perfect backdrop for the photo booth she planned on setting up outside of their reception.

Botany is made up of 5 colorways that all work well together... but these 5 colorways can also break up rather nicely into more specific color schemes.

In order to provide her with options that fit within their chosen colors, I put together the groupings shown below. (They chose the last one.)

Up until now, I've really only seen Botany used in quilts, clothing, and bags... It never even occurred to me that it could be used in its raw form... straight off the bolt.

The result works really well though... The colors play off each other beautifully and act as a nice compliment to the bridal party's coloring!

Basically, the way this idea works is, when guests are walking into the reception, they stop at the photo booth to have their picture taken. They get to hold signs... and make silly faces... and act completely spontaneous. All so that the photos come out with that same classic "photo booth style".

While waiting in line for the booth, each guest signs his or her name into the photo book and writes a message to the bride and groom. Each photo is then placed above that person's corresponding message (see photo above). This idea combines the guest book with the photo booth album... which is really quite smart! Kudos to Megan!

On a side note, you can view Megan's work on her website Out of the Box Photography and Design. I designed and programmed this site for her, which I'm super psyched about! This is actually the first site that I've put together using correct programming techniques!

There are a few additional features that I plan to add to her gallery sections and homepage, but if anyone wants to view her work, that's where to find it!

On another side note, I've just returned from my own sister's wedding this past weekend, which was an absolute blast!

(I'll have photos of the festivities in a later entry.)

I Love Creative People.

And I love it even more when those people take awesome photos of their creativity and send them my way...

I received an email from a crafty genius out in Indiana named Britt who recently blogged about a quilt she was making with Botany! Her blog, Scrapyard, features an eclectic collection of projects that are sure to inspire... Between funky slippers, mini bloomers, crayon rolls, and quilts, she's definitely a jack of all trades in the sewing world.

Her Picnic Quilt is made of an assortment of 42 squares, ranging in size from 1/4" increments to 3" and 4" increments. It was inspired by a quilt by Ashley, which referenced Liberated Quiltmaking II by Gwen Marston.

The photos that she posted about her Botany project show the quilt while it while it was still in the production phase, something you don't see as often a you do final quilt photos... in my opinion, a rather nice change of pace. Part of what makes quilts so special is the process that came before the finished product.

My fav is the big safety pin below. If the Discovery Channel were to do an episode on safety pins...

Additionally, the photos themselves are beautiful! The lighting... the vantage points... the depth of field... everything. So I when I wrote her back about the awesome blog entry, I asked if she would send along some photos of the finished quilt. Which she did! (See below.) I absolutely LOVE them!

If anyone else has made a great project using Botany that they would like to share... take some pretty photos and send them my way! I would love to post them!

The Flower Basket Quilt

This is one of our favorites! Both the subject matter and its bold use of color make BOTANY the perfect assortment of fabrics for such a spring-themed quilt!

Our Flower Basket Pattern is now officially available for download on our site, www.LaurenAndJessiJung.com, in our Quilt Patterns Section.

Currently, we have a total of 6 patterns available for download, so make sure to check out our entire Free Patterns Section!

Megan Kibby took these beautiful photos!

Quilt Kits Rock My World!

Buying fabric always makes for a great time... until that day when the avid fabric enthusiast is forced to come to grips with the fact that her fun little weekend pastime is starting to put a dent into her wallet...

The problem here pretty much boils down to two issues: (1) Quilts that use an eclectic variety of beautifully colored fabrics are awesome... and (2) eclectic varieties of beautifully colored fabrics can get to be VERY expensive.

Thankfully though, necessity has proven, yet again, to breed innovation... because some wonderfully ingenious person came up with the idea of pre-cut kits!

Even though I have always liked each of our fabrics individually, I have to say... that when I saw them come together for the first time, as a group... and interact with one another... something magical happened!

HANCOCK'S OF PADUCAH® must have felt the same way, because they decided to make a kit out of our Garden Variety Quilt Pattern...

Their Quilt Kit will give you everything that you need to make this particular quilt... PLUS, you get to use each of the 40 fabrics without breaking the bank!

My mom designed our Garden Variety Quilt for Fall Market to showcase all 40 fabrics in Botany... we felt that this particular design really allowed the colors to mingle and play off one another... And after looking at the finished product... I really feel that this quilt embodies the essence of spring and nature... the explosion of colors coupled with the organic subject matter just about requires that this quilt be used when picnicing!

And finally... I'm in the mood for a tangent.

Everyone who's ever visited to Paducah, Kentucky for the Annual Quilt Show, has also been to Hancock's of Paducah! The two go hand in hand.

My mom (Jessi), and her three best friends have made this trec for several years now and have made Hancock's their very first stop each time... almost as if the big quilt show, was nothing more than an afterthought!

I've listened to their colorful descriptions each year and they don't seem to go there merely because its a fantastic store... They go there for the "Hancock's Experience"... And it's these stories that made me especially excited when I heard that Hancock's wanted to make a kit out of one of our patterns!

Quilters (armed with little shopping carts) plant themselves between rows of tables piled high with the latest fabrics, (all different measurements). Each person peruses the piles, pulling out favorites... unfolding... refolding... for hours at a time. And after spending these huge chunks of time together... everyone with the same goal in mind... it's only natural that the women begin to feel as though they've formed a camaraderie with one another... one person will yell across the tables for everyone to be on the lookout for a particular fabric... which will often make for yardages being thrown through the air towards some excited recipients...

Apparently, the quilters get so engrossed in their searches... that at closing time each night, an employee will have to announce over the intercom that the store will close in 10 minutes... AND rather than packing up... the women crack up and continue sifting through the mountains of fabric. Definitely a good time!