Not for the faint of heart.....

#quiltmarketprep

Spring Market, Minneapolis, Minnesota

quilt market prep

is not

for the faint of heart

most people think of seasons as spring + summer + fall + winter

but professional quilters think of only two seasons

spring quilt season

and

fall quilt season

these seasons coincide with Quilts Inc. International Quilt Market(s)

this Spring Market

I am so lucky to be speaking at a Schoolhouse about my very own book

A Modern Twist

and will be attending book signings

at your favorite Distributors' booths

and at the Martingale/TPP booth

you will also find me in my own Booth 323

I have been making quilts

from new patterns designed just for Spring Market 2015

writing patterns

after testing blocks, pairing them with new release fabrics

testing the blocks for color

making the quilt tops

(while correcting step by step instructions and confirming yardage requirements previously created)

sending the top to the fabulous Quilting is my Bliss quilter

working back and forth with Teresa to come up with quilting that is appropriate for the design

and binding, binding, binding

then shipping, shipping, shipping to meet fabric companies' May 4 deadlines

then there is the graphic designer

(me)

that has sent new business cards, catalogs, handouts, and book flyers

(along with the new pattern booklets)

to the printer

throughout the whole process

pattern orders must still be filled

bills paid, checks written

and

#morningwalkswithbuddy

must go on

while this pic at first glance seems to say

chaos

 it struck me that this pic

really describes the amount of

heart

 that the quilt industry designers

put into our work

patterns, notions, fabrics, books

quilts, bags, garments, homegoods 

a little bit of our life is poured into every design we present to you

so the next time you purchase a yard of fabric

a pattern

a book

please remember this picture

and remember to support a quilt designer...one you know, or one that is just starting out

a pattern is the cost of a deli sandwich

a book is only the cost of two (or maybe three) patterns

a magazine has many, many patterns in it for the price of a fancy coffee

or a few pots of home made coffee

fabric travels around the world to come home to your local quilt shop

for somewhere between 8-12 dollars a yard

a quilt will take you months to make

for the cost of about one four hour round of golf at a public course

won't you click on one of those links below this blog

and purchase a book from one of my blog friends

or from me.... 

quilt market prep is not for the faint of heart

be.do.create.

natalie

www.beyondthereefpatterns.com

and

  take some time to read

figtreequilts.com

blog posted by Joanna Figueroa's husband 

(thanks, Vic, for house/dog sitting for me while I am away!!!)

It is New Quilt season.....

It's Spring

most of you think

flowers

furniture on the deck and bbq

but quilters?  they think

new quilt season!!!!

because I have been more absent than not

here at the blog

I thot I would let you in on where it is

that I have been

TikiTemple

I am lucky enough to live in Southern California

home of

Robert Kaufman Fabrics

Alexander Henry Fabrics

Anthology Fabrics

to name a few

and

Hoffman California Fabrics

I started thinking about this quilt design when I saw these Hoffman California Fabrics

but I wanted to test my idea

before cutting in to that great Liquorice Bali Pop

I grabbed a bundle of Marcia Derse that we have in the shop site

and started working on the pattern

this was just one layout

but a layout I decided to use to make this over sized runner

I didn't like it

until I quilted it

and added the black binding

and decided I could work with it

it was time to try the tone on tone batiks

you saw this one in bits and pieces on facebook

I added the red

I took away the red

arranged the blocks in the second alternate layout

finally, I selected some bright

Robert Kaufman Kona Cottons

and sent them to a friend with some hand written pattern instructions

she got back to me with news that one piece was off by 1/2 inch

YIKES

bless her, she finished the quilt

and sent it to

Angela Walters

for quilting

while I worked on the pattern illustrations and instructions

and waited for the quilt to arrive

so it could be photographed and the pattern sent to print

so next time you think spring

think new quilt season

and forgive us all for being just a little bit

absent

while we try to meet our Spring Quilt Market deadlines

be.do.create

natalie.

www.beyondthereefpatterns.com

www.facebook.com/beyondthereefpatterns

please visit again in the next few days for more info on new patterns

and an upcoming giveaway!

Book Giveaway Winner is.....

we have a winner!

thank you martingale & company

and remember....this is an autographed copy of this book.

Thanks to the rest of you for visiting - please tell your friends!!

Over the next week, we will be posting all of the patterns and fabrics

on the website/shop site

that we found at Spring Quilt Market

Hope you'll visit there as well!

HappiestDays.

natalie.

www.beyondthereefpatterns.com

Book Giveaway - Special Book from Quilt Market

s u r p r i s e

it's a book giveaway

exclusively from

Spring Quilt Market

Thanks to Martingale & Company

we have a new book for this giveaway.

A book written by two authors.

This signed copy is for one of you!

These two authors worked between the USA and UK

to bring us

12 Sunbonnet Sue wallhanging patterns!

The quilts are definitely achievable.

And the book, of course is written in that great

Martingale style.

Just look - color, fabric recommendations...

And last but not least, not only do you get twelve very cute Sunbonnet Sue

wallhangings - one for each month of the year

BUT.

You can log on and get two more free patterns

for larger quilts!

Like our beyond the reef facebook page

then leave a comment on the fb page saying "I'm in" for the Spring Quilt Market book giveaway.

Then become a blog follower and leave a comment on this blog.

The random number generator will select a winner

on 

Monday

nite.

HappiestDays.

Natalie.

Come with me to Market!

a wordless tour

of

Spring Quilt Market

HappiestDays.

natalie

www.beyondthereefpatterns.com