A Little Birdie Told Me... all about Darlene Zimmerman & Clothesline Club

1. Tell me a bit about you: name, location, affiliations, personal stuff. 

My name is Darlene Zimmerman, and I'm from a very small rural community in southwest Minnesota. I have a degree in elementary education, but after teaching two years I realized it was not for me. Instead, we started our family, and for many years I was a stay-at-home mom. I love all types of needlecraft-- crochet, knitting, embroidery and sewing. Then I discovered quilting and everything else went by the wayside

 

 

 

 

2. How did you get started sewing/quilting?

I have always sewed. I grew up in a family of six girls (no brothers). My grandmother sewed, my mother sewed most of our clothing, and we all learned to sew at an early age. I made doll clothes, embroidered and hemmed tea towels and then graduated into making most of my own clothes (including designing and making my own prom dresses). Later, when my children were small I also sewed craft projects and dolls.

 

 

3. What do you like best about quilting?  

I like every aspect of quilting, but the best part is playing with fabric, color and design.  Even my spare time is filled with quilting!

 

Quilting has also put me in touch with women all over the world who have quickly become my friends. This common interest bonds women of all ages and backgrounds together. Think of all the friends you have made through quilting! 

 

 

4. What is the hardest thing about quilting?  

That's an easy question-- not enough time!

 

 

5. How much time do you sew or quilt during an average week?

It really varies. It seems to be feast or famine. Some weeks I have office work or pattern writing to do and don't have time to sew. Other times, such as when a deadline looms or a new collection of fabric just arrived, I do nothing but sew, sleep and eat for weeks. Ideally I would like to sew everyday, all day. When I relax in the evening I always have either a hand applique or hand quilting project that I pick up.

 

 

6. Do you name your projects or label them? 

Yes, I always name my "babies", but also forget what I've called them. Labeling? I always recommend it strongly as I am also a quilt historian, but am not good about following my own advice. 

 

 

 

7. How did you start designing fabric?  

It happened as a lucky accident. I was demoing my tools at Quilt Market, and there was a new fabric company in the booth next door. When I looked at their fabric swatches, I noticed they were old designs, but in modern colors. I commented that their colors were wrong for the time period, and they promptly asked me if I could do better! After Market I sent color swatches and a selection of vintage fabrics that showed how the colors worked together, and that was how my first "Granny" collection was created. I designed 30s fabrics for Chanteclaire Fabrics for eight years, and for Robert Kaufman Fabrics for the past 5 years.

 

 

8. What is your favorite step in the fabric design process?  

I like all the steps, but probably creating the different colorways for each design is the most fun.

 

 

9. How did Clothesline Club start?

I had so many requests for patterns and ideas for using the 30s prints, and many shops were asking for a 30s club.  

 

 

10. What can people look forward to this year in Clothesline Club?  

The three collections; Buttercup, Sweet Pickin's and Sweethearts are some of the best collections I have ever created. The projects range from large to small; and teach a variety of techniques. 

  

  

11. You also design tools & rulers for Simplicity... tell us more!

Back in 1991 I was teaching quilting in community education classes. While teaching, I discovered a need for a quarter-square triangle tool (cuts triangles with the long edge on the straight of grain). I had my husband cut the triangle out of plexiglas and discovered how well it worked with an existing tool, Easy Angle. I contacted that company and after only nine months I convinced a man (non-quilter) At EZ Quilting to manufacture and sell my tool, Companion Angle. This was my ticket into the quilt industry. I also started publishing pattern books at that time. I now have twenty tools with EZ Quilting (Simplicity), and have published five books with EZ Quilting and seven books with Krause (F & W Media), with a new book coming out Fall 2011.

 

 

12. What inspires you? 

Anything and everything. The colors of nature, the colors and designs of antique quilts, and the world around us. There are pattern, design and color everywhere we look, and we just need to pay attention to it.

 

 

13. Anything else you want to tell us?

I would just like to give a big hug and thank you to everyone that has helped me along the way; to friends that have encouraged me and fellow quilters who use my tools, sew my designs and buy my fabric! I have been so blessed to be a part of the quilting world for almost twenty years.

 

Darlene's Booth at Fall 2010 Quilt Market

  

-Want to join the Clothesline Club?  Ask about it at your Local Shop.

-The Where to Buy Section of the Robert Kaufman site will be updated with the 2011 Participating Shops soon.

-Also you can see more photos from Darlene's Booth and Quilt Market on Flickr

 

--

  

Credit

Photos from Julie Herman

Interview questions from Nicole of A Stitch in Design as seen on the Philly Modern Quilt Guild Blog

 

--

I'll be back on November 19th with A Little Birdie Told Me!

volume 1 post 7

{ julie herman blogs at jaybird quilts }

A Little Birdie Told Me... all about Amanda Murphy

Amanda Murphy is one of the newest designers at Robert Kaufman. Her debut collection Ambrosia is shipping to stores now. The fabric features idyllic florals and gentle foliage in two graceful colorstories. The Spring colorstory presents a soft palette of subtle lavenders and sky blues while the Summer colorstory offers a brighter, bolder palette of playful pinks and garden greens. Her second line Swiss Chocolate will be shown to shops next week at Quilt Market!

  

Amanda has a great blog with lots of free patterns & tutorials. Read on to learn more about Amanda and how you can win some of her new fabric!

  

Ambrosia Yo Yo Pillow

1.    Tell me a bit about you: name, location, affiliations, personal stuff. 

I am a fabric and quilt designer located in Charlotte, North Carolina, and I design quilting fabric for Robert Kaufman. I LOVE fabric. I graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a degree in Design and worked as a graphic designer for a small firm in Alexandria, Virginia, and then as an Art Director for a multimedia firm in New York. A self taught sewer (I made my mom a dress fashioned entirely of pink lace when I was about 10 – and she actually wore it!), I discovered quilting after we moved to North Carolina and started a family. I combined the techniques that I learned from many generous teachers with the sketches that I had been doing over the years... and that was the beginning of my company. I also do some corporate design work on the side.

 

Also, we homeschool our two kids, who are 9 and 11. I feel very lucky to have a job that I love so much that also affords me a flexible schedule. It is crazy here sometimes and we are always all in each other’s space, but it works. I think our kids assume all people must sew and be surrounded by fabrics. They didn’t eat spaghetti when they were little because they were convinced I was trying to feed them thread.

  

 

Ambrosia with ricrac and ruffled trim

2.    What do you do for fun?

Have I mentioned that I LOVE FABRIC? I love to sew, quilt, go to quilt shows, do needlework, go to art exhibits. I love being around other people who like to do the same. I love all different types of fabric – from traditional to modern. I love all different color combinations. Quilting is fun because it affords you the opportunity to play with colors that you might not if you were doing a larger project.

  

3.    How did you get started sewing/quilting?

I’ve always enjoyed making things. I fashioned Barbie “hoop skirts” out of fabric and floral wire, and I used to use refrigerator boxes that my dad brought home from work to make Barbie houses. My mom really enjoyed needlepoint and had made me outfits and Halloween costumes, so she taught me the basics. When she mom went back to work when I was 11, I had to time to fill in the summers. I think that I made a tree skirt that first summer… it was very 70s. And then there was that pink lace dress.

 

 

Ambrosia photo album4. What do you like best about quilting?

I love the feel of the fabric. I think that there is something really enticing about the tactile nature of sewing in a digital age. Also, I love the surprises that result when fabrics are combined in different ways. It isn’t always what you’d expect – a lot of times it is better. Incidentally, this is something I also enjoy about fabric design. I love to combine the hand-drawings that I do on the computer and play with layering and color to get unexpected results.

 

5. What is the hardest thing about quilting?

Unstitching. Frogging. Taking out a seam to improve the finished project when you really want to jump ahead and see what is going to happen next. In a word… patience.

 

 

Sneak Peek!6. How much time do you sew or quilt during an average week?

Right now I am getting Swiss Chocolate patterns ready for magazines, so I am sewing at least 40 hours a week – mostly in the afternoons and evenings and on weekends. When I am in the design phase of a fabric collection, however, I tend to get engrossed in that and only sew a couple of hours a week. I enjoy switching from sewing, to drawing and illustration work – I think it helps me in the creative process.

 

7. Do you name your projects or label them?

Yes, but sometimes only after they are finished.  I am enjoying naming the Swiss Chocolate quilts, as they are all named after desserts!

 

 

 

 

8. What other crafts do you indulge in or hope to learn?

I draw and do needlework, although I haven’t done a lot of it lately because I haven’t had time.  I am particularly drawn to 16th and 17thcentury band samplers.

 

9. What is your favorite step in the design process?

Taking my hand-drawn artwork, scanning it into the computer, and manipulating it to produce unexpected results.  I also love working with color.

 

10. What inspires you?

Nature, architecture, and the decorative arts.  I really think that the decorative arts are under-appreciated.  I recently went on a trip to Winterthur (the Dupont museum in Delaware) and was blown away by seeing the fruits of so many talented decorative artists in one place.

 

--

  

Are you ready for a giveaway??

How about an Ambrosia Ten square!

 

 

It features 11 Prints and 9 Solids.

Amanda also developed three ways that you can use the Ten Square to create an entire quilt top.

 

How to Enter

Head over to Amanda's Blog Post about Ambrosia 3 Ways. Decide which way you like best... A...B... or C and leave Amanda a comment. Head back over here & leave a comment to let me know too! (You need to leave a comment on both blogs to be entered)

 

You have till midnight EST on Monday the 25th to enter!

Winner will be selected by True Random Number Generator

Good Luck!

 

--

  

Credit

Photos from Amanda Murphy

Interview questions from Nicole of A Stitch in Design as seen on the Philly Modern Quilt Guild Blog

 

--

   

I'm headed to Houston for quilt market next week! My goal is to take lots of photos to share with you!

   

I'll be back on November 5th with A Little Birdie Told Me!

volume 1 post 6

{ julie herman blogs at jaybird quilts }

A Little Birdie Told Me... It's not a quilt until it's quilted

A wise friend has often told me "It's not a quilt until it's quilted." Her words have been getting louder and louder in my head recently as my pile of quilt tops has grown.

 

I often have multiple projects going on at once. A new idea will come and I'll start a project. Despite this I didn't use to have a pile of quilt tops. Once a project got to that stage of a finished top I was usually committed to completing it. 

 

Has anyone ever told you it's about the journey and not the destination? I think we often forget this during the quilt making process. Even if we enjoy the journey we keep focusing on the destination. When I went outside earlier to take these photos I stopped for a minute and just enjoyed being outside. The weather... the flowers... the sounds... all of it.

 

So I have this stack of quilt tops. There are six tops in this stack & more in the studio. I could tell you that I'll have them done soon, but in reality I probably won't. The "Quilting" step in quilt making is my least favorite. Recently I only get projects done because of deadlines. Once the quilting is done I love binding the quilt. When the right inspiration comes I'll finish these tops and have a few more quilts.

  

That same wise friend recently wrote a blog post titled, "It's not a quilt until it's quilted." Her post was actually the spark that got me thinking for this post.

 

In her post she shows the quilt below. I saw this quilt a few months ago when it was just a top. The quilting makes it sing & I wanted to share it with you.

  

quilt details

fabric is Mingle by Monaluna

& Kona Crush

pattern - Piece of Cake

designed by Camille of Thimble Blossoms

pieced by Natalie of Beyond the Reef

quilted by Kenna

  

What are your thoughts?

Is it not a quilt until it's quilted?

Do you have a pile of tops that need to be quilted?

Do you have a least favorite step? 

 

I'll be back on October 22nd

volume 1 post 5

{ julie herman blogs at jaybird quilts }

A Little Birdie Told Me... that daisies and dots are where it's at!

Every once in a while a collection comes along that gets you really really excited... 

  

...for me this is one of those collections!!!

  

daisies & dots is designed by piece of cake designs

you know... becky & linda.... the amazing queens of appliqué!

  

   

The debut fabric collection by Piece O’ Cake Designs from Robert Kaufman features three bright & cheery colorstories, a trademark of Piece O’ Cake’s popular look. Playful dots in all shapes and sizes create an overall retro feel, while sweet & whimsical florals add a feminine touch.

  

Piece O’ Cake Designs is owned and operated by Becky Goldsmith and Linda Jenkins. The pair first met in 1986 at a quilter’s guild meeting, and since then have become especially known for their appliqué designs. Becky and Linda are also top selling authors for C&T Publishing. Their quilt books and patterns can be found in a variety of places: at local quilt shops, on many quilting websites, from C&T Publishing, at many book stores, and on the Piece O’ Cake website.

    

d&d will be in stores january 2011

  

i took a lot of photos for you!!

  

small dots

  

i think the orange is my favorite of the dots

  

giant dots!

  

in three yummy colors

  

  

here are the big dots with the little dots to show you scale

  

tiny daisies

  

bigger daisies... on bright yummy colors

  

flowers and ribbons

  

big flowers!

  

i really like the blue ones

these remind me of bubbles...

the last print in the collection is tiny flowers & dots

  

this collection has it all

great bright colors

and a big variety of scale!

  

once i got the fabric i started playing right away...

and i have a few projects in the works with it.

first up is another circle around!

  

daisies and dots will be available Ten Squares

    

pair it with some chocolate kona crush... and you have a quilt!

   

my favorite blue again!

  

it'll also be available in Roll-Ups

   

and fat quarter bundles by color way!

  

if you love daisies & dots as much as I do... tell your local quilt shop!

  

Piece O’ Cake Designs also created the Daisies & Dots free quilt pattern.  The finished quilt measures 52-1/2” x 52-1/2” and will be available to download free from www.robertkaufman.com and www.pieceocake.com. The quilt pattern includes three border variations, each shown in a different colorstory.

 

 

  

and since i told you my favorite print... which one is your favorite?

and what are you working on?

  

p.s.  giveaway on my blog featuring d&d on monday!!

;-)

  

I'll be back on September 24th!

volume 1 post 3

{ julie herman blogs at jaybird quilts }

Update on Tuesday, September 14, 2010 at 9:30AM by Robert Kaufman Fabrics

Hi all! If you are here for Julie's Daisies & Dots Giveaway, please make sure you not only leave a comment here but on her blog as well. You can click this link here. And don't forget to mention @jaybirquilts and @robertkaufman on Twitter for a bonus entry! Thanks everyone and best of luck with this giveaway!

A Little Birdie Told Me... mon sheri waves {a quilt tutorial}

As promised I have a tutorial for you today!  I've always been interested in doing a quilt with the traditional Drunkard's Path block... but putting a twist on it.  Once I saw the Mon Sheri fabric I immediatly had my idea.  I decided to set the blocks on point and arrange the colors to create waves.

I hope you love this quilt as much as I do!  I've prepared a PDF tutorial for creating the quilt as well as a YouTube video.  The YouTube video goes through cutting your blocks and sewing them together using the Curve Master foot.  I saw this foot demonstrated at the Lancaster AQS show and was amazed at how easy it was!  Typically sewing curves requires a lot of pins and with this amazing foot it doesn't!  It was one of my best purchases of the show.

quilt details

fabric is Mon Sheri by Khristian A. Howell {avaialable in october}

pattern - Mon Sheri Waves

designed by me

quilted by ... {not quilted yet!}

started on 7/3/2010

top finished on 8/26/2010

quilt measures - 48" x 67.5"


Thanks again for joining along with me and my new column A Little Birdie Told Me.  I'll be back on September 10th!

volume 1 post 2

{ julie herman blogs at jaybird quilts }