Brace Yourselves

Hey, hey! We've got some winners to announce, so hang onto your underpants! But before we do so, let me first thank everyone for all the nice comments we received! You guys are the greatest!

Birds & Berries Quilt

Have you downloaded our Birds & Berries
pattern yet? If not, I highly recommend that you do, for a variety of reasons. First off, it's free!

Directions can be downloaded on our website, or you can link directly to the download here. But more importantly, this wallhanging pattern is easy and quick to make, and well...it's pretty darn cute too. I know, I'm slightly biased, but I really do think this one's a winner and it deserves a spot in your future projects list.

We love pre cuts here at Lauren + Jessi Jung Designs, and this pattern was designed with that in mind, so it's great for kitting! The whole quilt requires only 2 charm packs, which covers you for all of the birds & berries, and the border pieces too. You just need a little extra for the binding, background, and backing.

There are a couple of things to note about the quilt that we think add a little something extra to the finished product. One of them is the 3D leaves atop each of the berry bunches (not to worry, these are also easy to make). We think they add a nice level of texture to this wall hanging.

And did you notice that the birds and berries almost seem to pop off the background? We really wanted the colors and patterns to take center stage in this wall hanging, so we quilted it with a tight stipple pattern, leaving the birds and berries unquilted. The end result is a sort of faux trapunto effect...just without the extra hassle.

And so, that concludes my sales pitch for our free pattern. We hope you enjoy making it as much as we did!

Oh...and if you're a quilt store owner whose interested in kitting this pattern, or you'd just like to have a few copies for a giveaway in your store, drop us a line! We'd be happy to send some of the spiffy 11" x 17" glossy printouts your way!

Carrie's Halloween Pumpkin...What's Left of It Anyway

I am a huge fan of traditional holiday activities, and Halloween is no exception.

And while I don’t have too many decorations to sprinkle around the house for the season, a carved pumpkin will always make an appearance.

Because of random conferences and other friend outages, our gang decided that the annual gourd gutting needed to take place last week…which is exactly what happened.

Soon after the first cut though, I learned that my Trader Joe’s pumpkin (that I meticulously examined and compared to the available inventory the day before) was decidedly sub par, as it was half rotten. Luckily, I didn't let this small detail discourage me and ruin the fun that night. So I continued carving, and even managed to end up with a respectable looking jack o' lantern.

Until we left it outside the next day…

Seems like a pretty harmless thing to do, right? To leave your jack o' lantern outside…Well, it turns out the combination of intense desert sun, an unusually hot October, and the slightly rotten consistency of the pumpkin’s flesh, made for something much less impressive when the next night rolled around.

It's safe to say that I won't be impressing trick-or-treaters with my pumpkin carving craftsmanship this Halloween...but hey, there's always next year, right?

Carrie Takes Quilt Radio By Storm

That's right...next Monday, I'll be a guest on American Patchwork and Quilting Radio with host Pat Sloan! Tune in at 4:00pm EST on August 27th to hear the live broadcast.

Link to the live broadcast here: http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/radio/index.html

Quilt Market 2012!

So this was definitely our best quilt market ever!!
And winning the best new exhibitor award didn't hurt either.

I'm not going to lie...this whole booth experience was A LOT of hard work. But in the end...I think we all agreed that it was totally worth it.

A little sleep deprivation never hurt anybody right?

Ok...so there was some fun to be had within our little 8x10 foot space.

And I do have to have to hand it to Lauren and Mom. As they managed to design what my husband called "a nice corner of an Anthropologie store" for us to spend our weekend. Don't worry, we documented it well..

But more than winning the Best New Exhibitor award...and having the chance to spend a lot of time with each other in a tight space with nowhere to sit...the best part about market (and I know this sounds cheesy) was getting to know so many new people! From quilt store owners to our fellow Moda designers.

So there you have it. 2012 Spring Quilt Market = Success!
Oh, and Birds & Berries will be in stores this August, so be on the lookout!