Summer Sampler Quilt

I finally finished the sampler quilt I started way back in December. I had majorly stalled on the quilting because it was taking forever but I finally pulled it back out the other night and just busted through it. I'm so glad to have it done and really wish I had a big wall to display it on, it's so pretty! I seriously can't get enough of those colors. I used three different colors of bias to bind it and I love the way it turned out, it's just a wee bit quirky.

I had a mini-meltdown when I washed and dried it though, some of the seams (on one block in particular) popped in the dryer! I was able to fix them by hand and it doesn't look too noticeable but it made me super wary of drying it again in the dryer and the overall sturdiness of it. I look at it as a lesson learned though and I'm still super thrilled how it came out, I just might be a bit more protective of it, haha! It feels so great to have long-term project wrapped up. Now I'm planning on having some fun with Kid's Clothes Week! 

Kids Clothes Week Challenge Spring 2012

I'm so excited because next week the Spring 2012 Kids Clothes Week Challenge starts! Meg of Elsie Marley has created this awesome project to challenge people to just dedicate one hour a night to sew something for their kids. (Or knit something!) This is my third year participating and every year I really enjoy my weeklong sewing frenzy because it's SO productive and I get stuff done that I normally would put off until it's too late. I've got my patterns all picked out and this week I've been tracing and getting fabric ready so that next week I can just focus on the fun part, SEWING! It's been SO long since I've sewn anything for the girls so this will be such a fun week. Check out the Challenge details here and join me!

New look for Lucy & Norman

I mentioned in this post that I've been trying to do more custom design work and I recently got to do a really fun project for Megan from Lucy & Norman. Megan is a super sweet, mult-talented crafter who writes an equally sweet and inspiring blog. It was a pleasure to create this new banner for her!

I hope you'll pop over to her blog and check it out. The new sweater she's knitting is going to be amazing!

New Prints in the Shop

A few of my favorite images from my 2012 calendar are now available as large prints in the shop!  I'm hoping to list more next week as well, stay tuned. :)

Modern Acorn and Custom Design

 Some weeks ago I had the pleasure of creating a new logo and banner for my friend Amanda's Etsy shop Modern Acorn. Not only does she sell the cutest cross stitch designs ever but she also makes the most beautiful, eco friendly, reusable cloth pads! I had so much fun creating a new identity for her Etsy shop that really reflected her business and personality. Here's is what we ended up with:

And here are a couple that didn't make the final cut: 

I absolutely love identity and branding design, it's one of the best parts of my full-time job and I just don't get to do it enough! So, I'm now offering custom design to you! Does your Etsy shop or blog banner need a little facelift? Are you starting a new business and need a "look"? I'm working on getting a price list together but in the meantime just shoot me an email at junecraft@gmail.com if you need any graphic design help and we'll work together and get you a quote and a plan.

Get your stitch on!

These have been in the works for such a long time and I'm so glad to finally be able to release them out into the crafty world. Two new crewel embroidery patterns are now in the shop for $6 each.  If you've never tried crewel embroidery these are perfect for starting out and it's SO fun, I love stitching with wool! Thanks to the very kind Virginia of Gather Here and her crewel students for testing these out. The pdf patterns come with tons of great info, stitching charts and diagrams and also include sizes and colors for regular embroidery and tapestry embroidery if crewel isn't your thing! I can't wait to see what you crafty people do with these and hope you enjoy stitching them up just as much as I did!

Introducing "Hey! That's Swell!"

I'm so happy to finally be able to share with you something I've been working on for SUCH a long time! I've been working with Cloud9 Fabrics since last summer on my very first collection of fabric. I still can't quite believe that I was given the opportunity to do this and have to thank Cloud9 from the bottom of my heart for the experience! And the fact that the whole collection will be organic cotton means so much to me. I'm so excited about how the whole collection came together and I can't wait to start sewing with it this summer when it hits stores. I'm especially thrilled by the two project panels we created. They're seriously packed with projects that are perfect for beginning sewers and the experienced sewers who just wanted to whip up something cute and fast! So, if you want to sew with me too talk to your local quilt shop and tell them to order it! Without further ado, here are the prints in the collection:

Project Panel - Blue

Long Dogs in the Garden

Right on Angles Blue

Blowing Bubbles Blue

Itsy Bitsy Ditsy Blue

Itsy Bitsy Ditsy Gold

Itsy Bitsy Ditsy Pink

Project Panel Pink

Right On Angles Pink

Blowing Bubbles Pink

Sweet and Swell Floral

Super Swell Patchwork