Quick Project for Christmas Present

Good morning!

It's already the last month of the year. No wonder it's been cold recently! And only 19 days till Christmas... I haven't complete Christmas shopping yet. Have you?If you were planning handmade gift but worrying that you don't have enough time, here is a quick & easy project for you. "Annie Pouch" designed by me, is a perfect handmade gift for your family and friends. You pick three fat-quarters and start your project today! It's great for carrying the small project such as applique, stitch work, or English paper-piecing hexagons. I usually recommend to use floral fabric for lady's cosmetic pouch but you can also use kids print fabric to make a perfect pouch for Nintendo DSi, Sony PSP, or iPod, etc. Once you made one, you would want to make two, three, four and more!
Send me the pictures of your "Annie Pouch" by December 20th, 2011 and one of you will win the surprise gift from me!

Thimble Creek Quilt Shop has "Project Weekly" right now. This special kit includes the pattern, the fat-quarters (Pam Kitty Morning's new fabric!) and the magnetic snap. If you want the quick start, this is the way to do! You can find the kit from here.

I wish everyone peaceful holiday season!

Happy quilting!!!

-Keiko

Market Report

Since last post, I was quite busy making samples for Fall International Quilt Market in Houston. The quilt in the corner (tied) is the one I made for Kaari of French General. Designed by my dear friend, Penny Tucker. Penny originally designed this quilt using Kaari's first line of fabric with Moda, "Rouenneries". This time, we made with Kaari's newest line "Rouenneries Deux". A bit different from the original but it came out very beautiful. Do you want to see the whole design? I only have a photo on my bed before it was quilted. This pattern will be available from French General sometime soon. So please keep checking their website.
I also made samples for Lecien. Honeybun Basket and Puffy Basket are made with Lecien's new fabric "La Petite Mercerie" designed by Emmanuelle Carre.

My newest creation is this bag, "Korokoro". It means the sound of rolling around in Japanese. This round bag has the drawstring for the opening and easy to carry on your shoulder. The pattern will be coming soon.My best friend who works at Lecien designed this quilt. Isn't it so pretty? It's a free pattern so you can download at Lecien USA's website.
My favorite booth at this market was Blackbird Designs. I always liked their designs and taught some classes. I usually don't like butterflies but this quilt is very pretty. It's perfect to showcase the fabrics.

I have more stories to share with you, but I have to go now... I will try to come back sometime soon to talk about them.

Happy quilting!

Keiko

Sorry for long silence

Hi everyone! You must thought that I quit writing the blog. There are so many things happens in the life and I just didn't know what to write.

Back in June, my husband told me that he is going to job interview while others were talking about high unemployement rate. I told him, "well, if you are the lucky one to get the job you want, go ahead!" Maybe that was the beginning of the tragidy. He invited me and my son to the restaurant at very nice outdoor mall after his interview. We sat outside in front of the musical fountain. We had a great time. Then he told me, he had very good interview with company CEO. What's it mean??? He said he would probably receive a job offer within one week or so. I never thought we actually had to move. This company is located 5 hours south of where we live! Poor my son! He just got out of school and was just going to enjoy summer vacation, it ended up packing after packing and preparing for the move. I had to say "Good Bye" to all of my friends and family.It took us almost a month and a half to find the new home to live. And we finally moved in August, the weekend before the school starts. I bet that was the worst summer for my son to remember. Then we had to unpack the boxes under the 100 degrees weather. That was a hell... We still have some boxes (ah... maybe a lot) in our living room.What??? There is no quilt shop in this area??? That was September when I found out. Oh boy, I should have searched before we chose the house. Stupid me! What was I thinking? Okay, there is JxAxx's and Bexxxxx's but that's not what I wanted! Real quilt shop! I was living only 10 minutes away from Prairie Queens Quilt Shop and it was perfect for me. I was teaching the classes and everyone was so nice! So I had to go back. I helped at their booth at Quilting in the Garden in Livermore. It was at the beautiful Alden Lane Nursery. I was so happy during the weekend surrounded by the beautiful flowers and the quilts, and my friends!
I received some energy to design some new patterns and here it is! My newest pattern, "Puffy Basket" was born! They are very small baskets but so cute!!! Great for Halloween candies, it kind of look like half pumpkin shape, isn't it? You can also arrange it for Christmas gift, Valentine's Day, Easter Basket, basically wonderful for all season. Instruction is easy to understand with photos. If you want one, ask your favorite shop to contact me at kc@kcottonstudio.com Of course, Prairie Queens Quilt Shop is the first one to carry this brand new pattern! I will try to keep up my blog from now on. See you soon!

-Keiko

French General Quilt Kits

Today, I recieved a very special package from French General. Their very first quilt kits!

The first quilt is called "Maison de Garance", just like their fabric line available now. This quilt was designed by Jon Zabala and myself, pieced and appliqued by my friend, Penelope Tucker and quilted by Debbie Thornton from Prairie Queens Quilts. Our collaboration worked very well. It was an amazing experiernce for me to work with such talented people.

I think this quilt is a great interpretation of her fabric line. House design was inspired from French country house, as a matter of fact, it almost looks like the house from "Chateau Getaway" that French General offers every summer. If you don't know about this, please check out their website for next summer trip.

The second quilt is "Reine des Abeille" which is larger quilt with hexagon design. This quilt was designed by myself, made by Ayako Yamazaki and myself, and quilted by Debbie Thornton.

"Reine des Abeille" means Queen Bee. Hexagons represent the honeycombs. I used the motif fabrics to fit in the hexagons to make it more interesting. Piecing the hexagons by machine is not too difficult. Sew straight and you just have to know where to stop. If you are not confortable to sew by machine, you have an option to do English paper piecing. Information is included in the pattern.

If you never order from French General, you will be surprised with their heart-warming packaging. All kits are packaged in a fabric envelope-style bag and include a quilt label with kit number and the blank label for you to write your own information.

Do you like to order these quilt kits? Well, they are only available from French General. And you might want to hurry because each kits are limited to 50 customers. Here is the link to their website. www.frenchgeneral.com

I hope you like them as much as I do!
-Keiko

New patterns

I know many designers are experiencing sleepless nights in this season. Not because of getting cold, not because of illness, but writing patterns to be ready for the fall quilt market. Well, I'm one of them now... :-) I (and my dear helpers, too) am working so hard to create some pattern samples and we hope you all love them. Here is a couple sneak preview of them. Once I finished with pattern covers, I promise to share with you.
 



Take care,
Keiko

I love bags...

I love to design and make bags. It's fun making it and usually takes a couple of days to make, then I get to use it and show to my friends.

Recently, when I see the new fabrics, the bag designs come first. Until a few years ago, I thought of quilt designs... So my recent inclination to the fabric changed.

When I go to a day trip, I always bring a sketchbook and draw some ideas. This bag is one of my new patterns, "Madam Butterfly". The overlapped flap reminds me kimono and butterfly. This bag is great for any age group. Just try to use the fabric you like and it will change the look. BTW, it's not really inspired by that opera.

Then, "Mom's delight", large tote which can hold your laptop computer. Or it can be diaper bag for new moms. Use it for a day trip or shopping at the mall. It holds a lot of things.

How about this "Balloon Tote"? This is usually called Granny Bag in Japan and uses curved template but I created from rectangle! No template needed!!! Isn't that great? You can really fit balloon in this bag. The other day, I placed a 12" pie plate in this bag and brought to pot luck party. Be creative!


I have more ideas in my mind and hope to share with you soon!

Enjoy the rest of Summer!
-Keiko

Window of the world class

I taught how to make Cathedral Windows easy way. Less folding, less husstle. If you ever made Cathedral Windows in traditional way, you know what I'm talking about. It is not an easy pattern to make. So many foldings just like "origami", and need to be cut and fold exactly. I found the way which is simple and easier, but still require accuracy. It goes much faster than traditional way. Try it!

Here is some of my students progress pictures;

Eli completed hers and here is her pillow.

Isn't it fun to see the same pattern in different fabrics? Please send me the photo if you made one and I will add to this post. How fun!

-Keiko

I've been waiting for...

It's already March!

And Easter is around the corner. I have a very popular pattern of mine for this season. Since I started to publish the patterns, this one is flying out of the door especially before Easter! It's "Honeybun Basket".

This basket is perfect for an egg-hunt for little kids, or for gifts. It uses MODA's honeybun or 1 1/2" strips and a fat-quarter for lining. You can actually make 5 or 6 basket out of one honeybun roll. So make them for yourself, then for kids, grandkids, friends, neighbors, etc... I used clear plastic water bottle(one gallon size) as protector. Many people contacted me what brand I used, well it can be Crystal Geyser or Whole Foods brand clear ones. If you are experienced sewer, it only takes a couple of hours to make one. Enjoy!!!

There is a new fabric line from MODA that I've been waiting for long time. "Rural Jardin" by Kaari of French General. I had fat quarter bundle from fall market and made this Cathedral Window pillow with them. I will be teaching the classes at Prairie Queens Quilt Shop in March and June.

With Kaari's previous line "Rouenneries", I made this quilt "Desparate Journey". I showed you a part of this quilt before I entered PIQF. Guess what?? It was hung at the show and I'm very happy about the comments I heard from other quilters. Thank you!

I love these fabrics!!! They are my favorite! Thank you, Kaari. Thank you, MODA.

Happy quilting,

Keiko

Pattern correction

I just taught "Twinkle Twinkle" class at Prairie Queens Quilt shop and found a mistake in the pattern. I suggested to use 4 inch octagon acrylic template from Baycreek Quilting Products. Guess what?? The way they measure the octagon was from corner to corner, but I needed 4" from side to side. So sorry about this. I made my own template from plastic sheet because I didn't have time to wait for this product to arrive.

If you bought this template for Twinkle Twinkle and experiencing the difficulties (end up too small), please accept my sincere apology. Please email me and I will send you a free pattern using this template so that you don't have to return it or waste it just sitting there. This free pattern will be available sometime in February.

Anyway, I hope all of you had wonderful holidays. I will try to update my blog more often and I have to do something with my website this year!

Talk soon,
Keiko

Pattern Update

It's getting cooler here in northern California. I hope everyone is staying healthy. I was little sick for a while. Now it's time to catch up with some stuff.

First of all, I'd like to introduce my new bag pattern "Peony Bouquet Tote". I'm teaching how to make this bag at Prairie Queens Quilt Shop in San Jose, if you are interested. Click here for more information.

I used the fabric designed by Brenda Riddle of Acorn quilt and gift company. This fabric line "Celebration" by Lecien is so pretty and romantic! Can you imagine to decorate a room with this fabric with some French country furniture? You can see the products made by talented designers using Celebration fabrics at Brenda's blog. She kindly included my quilt "Promise in Paris" and this bag "Peony Bouquet Tote". Thank you, Brenda!

I also used the new product called "Texture Magic" by Superior Thread. I attached this sheet on the wrong side of the fabric and sew simple straight lines. Then it shrinks the fabric by steam iron. It is so cool! Every time I steam it, I love watching the fabric shrink. Depends on the stitching design or fabric, it gives different looks. It is so much fun you would want to try again and again. Visit Superior Thread's "Mother Superior's Blog" every Tuesday! They introduce different projects and how to use the product.

I am working on another pattern and here is a sneak preview for you.

I designed this pattern for "Serenity" fabric of Maywood Studio. It is getting quilting now... which was originally going to be done by fall market. Sorry, Gail for the delay. The pictured fabric is "Evening Mist" by Moda. They are both beautiful taupe color fabrics and I will post both quilts later when they are done. Japanese taupe color is getting more popular in US and easier to obtain. If you are interested in these colors, visit Yoko Saito's website/quilt shop "Quilt Party". Her work is amazing.

That's it for today. Have a wonderful weekend!

-kc

Hot here...

It has been very hot here in San Jose area. Close to 3 digit, maybe over.

As I promised, I am uploading my current quilt patterns.

This is the quit which traveled all over the world. I designed and made this quilt for Lecien and they wanted to display at Yokohama International Quilt Week in Japan, then traveled to Australia, then several contries in Europe and finaly came back to me. I wish I went with.


"First Love" is my very first pattern. I love this fabric, "Durham Quilt Collection". It has feeling of British country.

"Icebox Cookies" are the pattern you can make with one Honey Buns from MODA and 6 fat quarters. Fun quilt!

"Peaceful Night" is Japanese taupe color quilt. By changing the position of sashing post, it created the diagonal setting look. Easy piecing.


"Sweetie Pie" is very popular quilt for beginners. Perfect for baby quilt or wall hanging.

Please email me for the inquiries.
Thanks,
-kc

My patterns

I guess I'm going to try posting the pattern pictures tonight. Deb asked me if I can share my pattern pictures with her. This is my solution for now. Sorry if it doesn't look good. Today is bags & baskets patterns only. I will post quilts patterns later...

-kc