I finished!

Guess what?!!? I finished the 8 new bags for the shop. I'm exhausted. Thank goodness for the crock pot! The crock pot is a family friend when mommy becomes sewing obsessed. I do love sewing!And I have some great new bags for you. Drum roll please-

DESERT FLIGHT SUITS!

The 4 desert bags are all the same color family- I've used the green version of the very popular pink paisley Michael Miller fabric.

And of course, like the original pattern, they have 5 pockets, guaranteed. BUT the way the flight suits are made and used, they have more zippers than a little bit, so the odds are very good that your bag will have more than 5 total pockets, when you consider the ones on the bag exterior.


In my last post I mentioned some design variations. Well, let me tell you about them- I replaced the nylon webbing handles with 1 1/4" cotton woven webbing. Its softer. I already love it. I do still have some nylon webbing, though, should your custom bag require that.

Speaking of handles- I've also branched out with the ribbon adornment too. Check this out:

Eyowwwwwwser! Its awesome huge funky-chunky ric-rack. I LOVE it. BUT, of course, I'm not my customer, so I didn't include this bold ric-rack on all the bags. Only two.



Ok, so they are two minor detail changes, but I do think they make a big impact when added together.

Do you like the big chunky Prints Charming fabric as much as I do??? Pink, orange, aqua, and red! Its a party on fabric.

Yes, I've mixed floral and plaid. I'm happy I did. Both pieces are from Anna Maria Horner's Chocolate Lollipop collection for Free Spirit.



There are 8 total NEW FLIGHT SUIT bags over in the Etsy Shop. You'll have to drive over to see them all. And of course, if you want to make one for yourself, please check out my Cube Pattern over at www.reannalilydesigns.com -> the patterns.

~jen~

I finished!

The Convergence

Do you know Ricky Tims Convergence Quilts? Man, I LOVE them. I've made a few tops in my day using his method of stacking and *sorta* weaving the fabrics into each other. These two pictures below are not too big in real life. I think with a border or two, they could be a good wall-hanging size. The black and white one is much bigger than the blue, though.


Its the same method to make both of the blocks above. Crazy, right? Its similar to the Bargello Method in that, once you have your basic size, you slice strips in varying widths to give you varying looks.

I used the convergence to make a big block (about 16" square) from some left over layer cake (10" square) pieces. Left over from what, you ask? Well, you'll have to wait and see. But in the mean time, I can show you the block and evolution of a cute cute new bag-

And from here, I used my Book Bag pattern (not yet available, but totally in the works!) to make a quilty fun pink, green and brown bag.

And because I had exactly 8 layer cake squares left over, I totally made a convergence for the back of the bag too.

Like the other book bags, this one sports a ribbon closure and a zipper pocket. This one actually, also has two drop in pockets way down inside there, but they didn't photo so well. You'll just have to trust me, they're in there.

Oh and the layer cake was Basic Grey Sultry by Moda. It has excellent greens, browns and pinks in the mix there. Every bit as beautiful as their scrapbooking papers.

So that's my bag and that's what I've done with my leftovers. AND that's how I think I'll be using many more orphan blocks I have in my stash of "not quite a UFO because there are no other "O"s for it to coordinate with" pile.

~jen~

The Convergence

They've Arrived

The brand-spankin-new pattern Woven Comfort is for sale in paper format from my website (patterns tab), but is also available for pdf download and is LIVE LIVE LIVE over at YouCanQuiltThis.com.

The new flight suit bags and uniform bags are officially listed over in my Etsy shop. Check them out to see which ones are still available.


What a week! I have some crazy exciting news to share with you this coming week. Stay tuned. ~jen~

They've Arrived

The Recycled Uniforms Catalog

Because its Valentine's Day weekend & because I LOVE ReannaLily Designs...

I've been working on putting together a virtual catalog for my Recycled Uniforms Designs. It is absolutely current and is in a nice tidy pdf form. You can find it by clicking on this image:

The image will live in my blog side bar and will always be there when you need it. =) I will be adding my new Gathered Bag to the Recycled Uniform Line-up very soon.

And in an effort to be oh-so 21st Century, I started a Facebook fan page for ReannaLily Designs.

I'll try to post on the Facebook page often. I'll have class info and product info over there. Its nice also, because all of the photos for the designs are hosted right there ON the page. I have a handful of images up- Its only been a day, though. Feel free to drive on over to your Facebook account and become a FAN of ReannaLily Designs.

Have a super great lovey-love Valentine's Day weekend!

The Recycled Uniforms Catalog

Big Announcement!

Its Big Announcement day here at the ReannaLily Designs studio. The fine people who run my domain name account have fixed my website. http://www.reannalilydesigns.com is back on! I cannot tell you how happy I am with their quick turn around. They must have heard me hollerin' all the way up in Canada. Do you see me doing the happy dance?? Oh, I'm dancin!

In other big news (which is why the site-crash timing was LESS than ideal)- I've added a shopping feature over on my site! I've joined the 21st century and have my own cart buttons and paypal service linked to my products. Whenever you see the custom designed:

You can start shopping. I have to thank my friend Gretchen for turning me onto the whole paypal "cart button" feature. It was super easy for me to use, and so far seems to be super easy for customers. I'm still working out a few kinks- but its going pretty well.

And in redesign news- Customers can now see the front and BACK of the pattern envelope when you click on the thumbnail image. I know when I'm shopping I always want to know the fabric requirements I'm getting into. Sure its a nice quilt, but am I going to need 33 yards??? (FYI, none of my patterns need 33yds- goodness, that'd be alot!!!)

Still with the big news- I've released 2 of the upcoming NEW NEW NEW patterns over on ReannaLily Designs.
The first one is a very sensible Quilt Guild Name Tags pattern, which I had mentioned here before. The final image has gone through some make-overs, but the patterns are well-tested and ready for your sewing machine. The 6 designs are all paper pieced. I developed this pattern after joining a few quilt guilds (in various cities) and not having my name tag, which always seemed to get lost in the move. Boy, if I had a dollar for every time I've used the phrase "lost in the move." Anywhoo- Its hard work to make a "quilt" that small- especially if you aren't a miniature-quilt quilter. As a result of really wanting a tidy, quick but-still-WOW name tag, I designed these. These are NOT hard work to make, and you probably have enough fabric in your current stash to make them. =) Each finished "quilt" measures 3.5" x 5" OR and this is really the best part- you can enlarge the pattern 130% to make fabric postcards. (Yes, you can actually mail them.)

This second release is a Queen size quilt called Intensity. Its made from fat quarters or assorted yardage. This one, like my Quick 3D Sampler and the Interlocking squares patterns has quite a bit of graphic impact without being an art quilt. I love the contrast in this design. Do you see triangles? Do you see squares? Me, I see squares. My husband, he only sees the triangles. I love the red with black & white.

I have 3 more patterns in the works. Two are tested and we're just waiting on cover images. Oooh- the suspense! Hopefully a pattern will make it over to your house, soon. As always, I'll keep ya posted on all the developments here at the HQ. Have a great afternoon. ~jen~

Edited to add: As of Jan 21, 2009- The great 2009 Spring Quilt Block swap only has 6 spaces left. Section 4 will be the last section. There are only 5 remaining days to sign up. If you're already in the swap and would like to join a second time- please do! Tell your friends. Monday the 26th of Jan is the last day to sign up. After the 26th, I'll be sending an email out to all the players regarding the shipping instructions. Thanks again for playing!

Big Announcement!

Another one done!

I finished up another quilt from last year. This one, like my burgundy appliqué one, was made over a year ago. I just got it back from the quilter in Sept and finally bound it yesterday. This is my Garden Box Quilt. Each of those squares are from different fat quarters* of fruit or veg fabric. (Some of them are the same, you know, a few "boxes" cut from one fat quarter.) I add the light green triangles to be the "leaves" and then I boxed it off, so my veg wouldn't grow all together. I have to tell ya, having a sewn garden is WAY easier than having a real one.

The quilt block is from the Quilter's Cache, but I'm sorry I don't remember the name of it.



I also wanted to share a little tip about the BINDING. I prepare all my binding the same way. Cut 2.5" strips. Miter the ends, sew the strips end to end. Press it in half, lengthwise and roll it up. Lots of times, I do this right after the top is done. It keeps me from using that particular piece of fabric in another project, when I know I NEED it for the finished top. I'll write the quilt top name on a ziploc and keep it on a shelf 'til it returns from the machine quilter's shop.

I use the Fons and Porter method of continuous binding. You can choose to apply it to the front of your quilt, then finish it by hand on the back side, or do it as I have (much quicker) and sew the binding to the back of your quilt:

Then flip it to the front to edge-stitch the binding down. Make sure the tension is even on your machine because with this method, I needed a dark color top thread and a light color bobbin thread. Ya don't want little "pokies" from either side peeking through.


There ya have it. There's some tricks to the mitered corners, but that is all explained in the Fons and Porter method/book. In fact, if you sew, I'm sure you've seen it before.


Ta'dah! ~jen~

*A fat quarter is a quilting term referring to a piece of fabric which measures 18" x 22". They are generally regarded as GREAT Christmas or Birthday gifts for quilters, should you be shopping. =)

Another one done!

Destash!

Ok, some of you know I used to be a Close To My Heart Stamping/Scrapbooking consultant. It was fun, and I really enjoyed it... but I'm moving on to focus completely on my sewing. As a result I realize I own WAY to many scrapbooking supplies. I have recently destashed my stash. Holy smokes! I have listed 29 "lot style" auctions over on Ebay and they all end on Monday the 8th, in th evening. goodness.

I linked my Ebay name/shop before the auctions are activated, so hopefully that link works later this evening. I'll check it for you, don't worry. If it doesn't work, my seller name over there on the world wide garage sale is LLYRRIC.

So if you're looking for a variety of scrapbooking papers and supplies please check out those auctions! ~jen~

Destash!

Craft Fair

The craft fair was this past weekend. I have to tell you... it wasn't all that great. I don't think there was much advertising for it. Which is a shame, because, a couple years ago, I participated in a Craft Fair in Albuquerque which did NO advertising for the show. The ABQ one did heavily advertise for vendors though- So the vendors estimated they raised $4500 in booth fees- but WE did no business. After learning that lesson the hard way, I now always ask, up front "What kind of advertising will you be doing for this show?" The coordinator for this show assured me there would be advertising and publicity. As it rolled up to the big day, many people I knew still hadn't heard about the event. In fact, there was a total of 13 vendors. They were all super nice, since we had ample time to chat and get to know each other better. In fact it was through those vendors that I learned of a big craft fair over in Lawton this coming weekend. 180 vendors! I think I'll go to that one as a shopper and see about handing out a few fliers for my Recycled Uniform Bags. Ft. Sill is a really big Army base, and the Army seems to really like my bags.

All in all it wasn't a total wash. I had a handful of friends come out to support me and chat. I did have some sales. A big thank you, though to those members in the community who did come out to the little craft fair. It was nice to meet you. And I had the whole morning off from "mommin" Which- as you mom's know, is a really refreshing morning in itself, from time to time.

Maybe I'll be able to do the Lawton fair next year. Now, back to my morning hot chocolate. Have a great Sunday! ~jen~

Craft Fair

The Craft Fair

This past weekend was the *big* craft fair. The fair is a big fundraiser for the Air Force Bases' Spouses' Group. I think the did well.

Oh- The quilts in the photo are not mine. Those are from my mom, over at Karen's Quilting Service. How cute is that airplane quilt?! As of Saturday at 4p, it was still available, if you're thinking it'd make a GREAT Christmas gift.

I had a TON of stuff out at the craft fair. I brought my entire Etsy inventory. Honestly, it all fits in a rubbermaid (not the military purses), but once its out and displayed, it takes up quite a bit of room. I had two tables and two hanging bars.

I had clothes and purses on the hanger, fabric scraps in the basket, fabric by the yard on the table next to my patterns and SEAMINGLY ACCURATE, then aprons & stroller blankets and lastly I had my uniform purses. Wow.

I did make my sales goal, so that was good. I also was right about my hunch- with this being a USAF town, and the first 3 bags I photo'd for you were USArmy. In fact, I've added those 3 bags into my shop, just today. If you're looking for an ACU bag, please surf on over to my shop. Let me know, when you check out, and I can get it wrapped for Christmas for you.

It was a pretty good weekend. I do think the fair was great for generating local business. It was quite nice to meet TONS of ladies (and a few guys) from the community. Nice to meet'cha!

Do your part to help out the economy and shop shop shop! Have a great day! I'll be adding 4 more Cubes (with green BDU fabric) into the inventory sometime this week, so do check back. ~jen~

The Craft Fair

Big Day over On Etsy!

Thanks to the brilliant suggestion by my Sister-In-Law- I'm listing some of my fabric scraps on Etsy. I sorted all the colors and weighed all the bags. I've collected quite a pile of scraps sewing over the past two years. (And this is just the two years I've been saving! Imagine if I saved it the whole 15 years!!!) The prices are fair and I'll combine shipping. Heck, buy them all and I'll throw 'em in a flat rate box for you. This photo mosaic was made with BigHugeLabs and the pictures are from my flickr account.

That little lower right corner is NOT a scrap at all. Its actually a little stroller blanket for a boy. I've made two. Joel Dewberry fabrics on one side and super softy buttery Minky fabric on the back. Its the perfect weight for cool morning walks. And of course, its machine washable. It makes me nuts to see baby stuff say "hand wash only" or "spot clean only" come on... its for a baby for goodness sakes.

And I still need to list one more Army Cube bag tomorrow morning. If you're waiting for that ACU with Moda fabric- tomorrow is your day! ~jen~

::edited to add:: The Moda ACU Purse is now listed also. All the purses from this post, are ready for sale in the shop. Thanks for checking them out!

Big Day over On Etsy!

The Recycled Uniform Bags are BACK!

Ok, I've been working like crazy this week to bring you 6, YES 6, new Army Cube purses. Well, you can call them Military Cubes if you like. I don't want to discriminate. =) I do have 3 bags that are identical {except fabric placement, of course}- fabric by Michael Miller:


And I have one super fun bag made with the ever-popular Heather Bailey Fresh Cut fabrics.

I also have a BDU bag featuring coordinating pieces of Sandi Henderson's Ginger Blossom Fabrics-


And the last one is made with an ARMY ACU uniform- so this one is definitely an Army Cube. It has the velcro still in tact for the name tape, too. This one is SO pink, but no flowers- so its femme without being too *sweet*. These fabrics are Moda.


I've started to sew my label on the side of the bag, rather than loop it- It turns out they were wearing down a little bit. I think my next label order will be traditional woven ribbon labels, instead of printed ones. In fact, if you can recommend a woven ribbon maker- I'd love to hear about it.

I'll be linking the photos to their listings over on Etsy as soon as they are available. Or if you want one, just email me and we can work it out. =) I'm listing one per day this week. (The first 3 are already a GO!) If you'd like me to make a bag using your fabrics and uniform, please email me. See more of my bags over on my flickr set for Recycled Uniforms.

Thanks for checking them out! ~jen~

The Recycled Uniform Bags are BACK!

I'm BACK!!!

All of my household goods are now actually IN my house. {imagine that} I'm so happy. Then unpacking marathon is in full swing. Its wonderful!

You know what that means, my Etsy shop will be filling in with funky handmade sewn items and recycled uniform items very soon! Patterns will be arriving shortly. We just purchased a nice new printer, and that changes the pattern game significantly. I can actually print a nice quality pattern for myself. hooray for business expenses!

In other news, the company that holds my domain name, and has for the past 4.5 years, decided to fix my website for me, and now thats back online. sweet! I do still need to update a picture or two and change my contact info, though. I didn't figure out the email and server-hosting deal... but I've got time. I will likely just transfer my domain. Too technical? Yeh, lets move on.

While still in Korea, I made a cute little outfit for my niece and she's finally big enough to wear it. I've already listed the outfits similar to this one over in my store.

Thanks for stopping by my bloggy-blog. Hopefully, I'll be back to creating soon. Just a few more boxes to go. ~jen~

I'm BACK!!!

Interlocking Squares

Ok... drum roll please... I'm releasing my first quilt pattern in a couple years. I authored a handful of patterns a long while ago, all of which were lost in *the crash.* I think, now with the network and server, I feel much more confident getting back into the pattern authoring and data saving!

The quilt and pattern are called Interlocking Squares and is perfect for a beginner. The pattern is for a 60" square quilt. Having taught quilting, I've learned that beginners like to have something finished. Even if the details of the quilt aren't too technical, if its a king size... it is likely not going to get finished. So, with that in mind- this 60" quilt is perfect for beginners.

I'm a huge fan of the 15" square block too. You get more bang for your buck. Less time cutting, less time piecing, and wham-o, a 60" quilt with only 16 blocks. Having bigger blocks means less total seams which also means less fabric. Cha'ching. Its like money in the bank!!! heh.


The top is based on this block. This block was inspired by Dear Jane. Yes, the big wildly famous Dear Jane Civil War quilt. The block inspiration is located at K1 of the Dear Jane.

See that little block I highlighted up there on the left. That's K1. Crooked Cross. I removed the borders, turned some pieces, completely changed the size, arranged him with identical friends and the Interlocking Squares quilt was born. Its quite an evolution really.

Wanna see what the whole Interlocking quilt looks like? I've made it in two color-ways. One with a light background X and one with a darker background X. Check out how different they look:




Its just crazy that those are the same pattern. I'm floored and I sewed it. HA. I don't know which one is my favorite yet. The second one is all Heather Bailey, so that one's got some serious design appeal. The first one highlights the interlocking square feature, so that one is pretty neat too. Decisions, decisions.

Sorry for the skewed quilt images. The final fancy images will likely be taken up against a wall with much better lighting. I'm sure I'll be all over the blog the day I get those pictures done, not too worry.

Currently, the pattern is offered for sale in my Etsy store for only $7.50. It is a paper copy which you will receive by mail. Its copyright protected intended for personal use only.

Now, having said all that, the free wine bag pattern over on the right hand side is generating quite a bit of traffic through my blog. {I'm very happy to report that.} I got to thinking, if this many people are making wine bags, and soon to be making interlocking squares, I should start a flickr group for my patterns. So I did. ::love the internet:: Please, post pictures of things you've made from ReannaLily Designs patterns here in the Flickr Group. Sure, the group is small now, but right now I only offer two total patterns. Hopefully I'll change that soon.

Thanks for stopping by my blog. Have a great week! ~jen~

Interlocking Squares

Ok, finally a Monster on Etsy!

I've been working on commission work alot lately, but things have started to slow down a bit with the big move pending. Sooooo... I got to work on my new Military Monster for Etsy. This bag was introduced almost a month ago and now, its finally heading over to the shop. Its absolutely huge and has 9 big pockets. Perfect for baby items, beach items, purse items, over night items. ... Heck, I'm pretty sure you could pack a picnic for a family of 5 in there!... Anyway, I'm already thinking about possibly writing a pattern for it. The construction is fat quarter friendly, and who doesn't love fat quarter bundles??

Yes, I had to pick which fabric bin I was going to keep out, for the big move. It ended up being the Heather Bailey fabric bin. So yes, the new Monster is one pair of military BDU pants and 3 different Heather Bailey prints from her Fresh Cut line for Free Spirit.

I also used a buttery ivory grosgrain ribbon on the nylon handles. Boy, I hope I can find more of that nylon handle stuff when I get back to America. I bought a bunch here, but his bag uses close to 3.5 yds, for each bag. I was inspired to do a bottoms-up photo by a lady over on flickr. The photo on flickr by the other person was much better than mine, but still a nice idea so I thought I'd add it.

Ok, tell all your military family supporter friends about the new listing. Click on the photos to go straight to the listing. Thanks for checking it out! ~jen~

Ok, finally a Monster on Etsy!

The Booth

Well, the booth is done. I took most of my Etsy inventory and a couple of new special items up there for the ladies to peruse. I even took Mannie, my mannequin, up there for display. Check me out. Mannie is in the front seat over there, facing backwards.


I suppose that would be quite a funny site in America too. Here, in Korea, it was a spectacle. (Look at me, big nerd, taking a photo of myself! HAH!! See my arm & camera shadow on Mannie's rear? Sad, and funny all at the same time.)

Since the event was held on an Army post, I needed to get onto the base through the secure base gates. Not a problem. So the gate guard looks at me, then looks in my van. He sees Mannie in the front seat and the child size mannequin, Buddy, in the back seat. Then he stops and looks at me like "lady you have lost your mind" and he says, "Oh what is that?" So I tell him, and it seemed to confirm his "lost your mind" suspicions. Good times. And, we're in!

...incidentally, do you think I could go in the High Occupancy Vehicle lane with a family of Mannequins in my van?...

I had more stuff than table space, so if I do the craft fair gig again, I think I'm going to need some kind of display rack or wall or something. Doesn't Mannie look lovely in her apron? And Buddy is wearing one of my children's outfits. There's quilts, purses, wine bags, throw blankets- quite a spread. It wasn't flying off the table, but after a bit I realized many of the ladies attending the function had cutsom bags made/designed by me already. I did get to hand out the 'ole business card and lock up a few more commission jobs. All in all, it was a pretty good night.

I have listed the, ahem, surplus inventory over in my Etsy store if you're interested in seeing the new items. Have a great day and thanks for your continued support! ~jen~

The Booth

Sorting and Pricing

Well, I need price tags for all my wares. I decided to type up the tags with a little website information on there as well. We'll see how it goes. With this much blog-build-up I bet you're going to expect a full play-by-play the day after the sale. This is the post to just show you the volume of things I'll take. It seems like "oh I might need one or two more of X" but now, lookign at this pile and pricing this pile- whooh, I think I have enough. Thats the aerial view, so its plenty stacked.

I'm actually including 3 quilts in the inventory. They're baby sized. Each of these are quilted by me and made in my home. I didn't send these out for quilting.





That is the only picture I have, I think, of the Blue/Black Carpenter's Wheel quilt. Of course, its finished, quilted and bound in real life.

In other news, I'm trying to figure out the pen tool in Photoshop. If you have any tips, please leave a comment or email me. I'm so confused. Why does it keep curving my lines in directions I do not want??? ~jen~

Sorting and Pricing