Gudrun´s World

Market Post....finally

I know I got back from the show in Pittsburgh last week and should have found some time to post pictures, at least the very few that I was able to take. Life has been kind of crazy around here. My parents were visiting from Iceland last week and we spent some quality time together. Then my husband Torir graduated with a Masters degree (MBA) on saturday from The University of St.Thomas and we had a little party for him on Sunday. So yes....busy busy....now things are getting back to normal and I intend on enjoying my last 2 weeks before the kids get out of school!!!

 

The show in Pittsburgh was very good, the book was a big hit and we sold out of our booth stock in 1 hour!! This is the booth, I had a double booth and made a little back room for us to store stuff. It worked out great!

 

All the projects from the book were on the back wall and then on one side we had the new strip patterns and on the other side the new Moon Glow quilt. I loved how open the booth was and people had no problem coming into it and hanging out with us.

 

We bought our props in Pittsburgh, along with the flooring and walls so everything worked out so smoothly. The furniture all got sold by the end of the show so I was really happy!!

 

The Sweet Chirps quilt was watched over by our little birdie we picked up in Pittsburgh.

 

Like I said, I didn't get out of my booth much to take pictures but I did take pictures of my booth neighbors. I shared a pole with the fabulous Terry from Atkinson Designs. Things are never quiet with us two around!!!

 

On the other side of me was another great friend....another Terri!! The master designer behind Whimsicals, we have both been designing fabric for Red Rooster for a few years now so we become booth neighbors quite a few times. Don't ask me what I was looking at....I think Tom (Terri's husband) was goofing around, distracting us.

 

And look who came to visit .....four Minnesota designers on a stick!! They were hiding out in my backroom, Heather, Terry, Linda and Debbie. Check out their fabulous new products by clicking their names.

There are so many market posts out there, I hope you have been checking them out. The one and only Pam has produced a masterpiece which you've got to see! She even caught me in the act in the backroom rehearsing! (you will have to go to her blog to figure that one out)

Jolly Jabber posted lots of great photos from market and they even had me be one of their guest bloggers this weekend which was great. Check it out.

One of main attractions in my booth was the treats that I was giving out....the Icelandic chocolate. Some people came back again and again for a piece. Pam even talked about it....wasn't it good? Well our little birdie that you saw in the picture with the baby quilt got a little crazy with the Icelandic chocolate on the last day and look what he did to our booth neighbor's table!!

 

It's a good thing that Terry, Kirk and the kids were good sports about it and cleaned it up, but I wasn't gonna take the bad birdie with me on the plane and risk another disaster. So we decided to give him up for adoption. The Red Rooster staff took him in and are going to attempt to turn him into a respectable Rooster!! We will see how that turns out!

Lots of fun times were had in Pittsburgh as you can imagine, meeting old friends and making new ones, lots of good food to be had there and a fabulous Convention center with great windows. It would be great to come back to Pittsburgh.

The icing on the cake for us was on our flight back on Monday morning. Sitting there waiting for the same flight was the amazing Carrie Nelson of Miss Rosie fame. We were on a Southwest flight (you don't get seating arrangements before hand you know) and she boarded way before me and my right hand gal Yvonne, but she was gonna see if she could puts around to try and keep seats open for us........and she accomplished!!! It was hilarious....she sat, stood up, took her bag out, put it back, moved over a seat and so on....until we got there and got to share the ride to Chicago. It was so much fun, we shared show stories, the rest of the Icelandic chocolate and talked about everything and anything. In Chicago we went our separate ways, we flew to Minneapolis and she took off to Phoenix. Thanks for the ride Carrie, we will have to plan this for next time!!!

That's it for now....maybe I will remember some good show stories later...have a good week.

Winners and New Patterns

It´s Monday and I am leaving for Pittsburgh in the morning. It has been a busy day finishing up everything (why do things always come down to the last minute runaround?). I couldn't leave before randomly drawing a winner from each book post, carefully giving all of you extra entries that posted on your blogs....thank you!

The winners are:

Post 1: Laura Hood "Have always enjoyed your use of color, the tablerunner and bags are great ways to show how your fabrics play so well together. Hope Market goes well for you, but I also hope you get to sleep a bit this time!"

Thanks Laura, I will definitely try to get more sleep...at least I am not sleep deprived going into market as I have been many times before.

Post 2: Cory  "This is a wonderful give-away that you are doing on this wonderful book. Thank you. Take care and God bless, Cory!"

Post 3: Ruth B "The baby quilts are adorable of course and I love the runaround bag. I guess I prefer the aqua/orange bag best but they are both lovely. I just happen to be in an aqua phase!"

Post 4: PB from MN "Gorgeous models for gorgeous quilts!"

Post 5: Annette "Those winter placemat are definitely going on my Christmas list for friends and family this year. So pretty. Thank you so much for sharing. I wish you much success with this publication.

Post 6: Mary Ellen Honan "Your quilt as you go items certainly reflect your creativity. If my LQS had this book, I would be there today."

Post 7: Nancy "Ok, I NEED this book. All the table runners are so darling...and my little table runner is about 6 years old. TIME FOR A NEW ONE!!

Congratulations girls, now just e-mail me your adress (gudrun@gequiltdesigns.com) and I will send you a book and maby some fabric candy when I get home from market.

I have 2 new patterns out along with the new book and here they are:

 

Strip Maze is made with 2-1/2" strips and has 3 sizes.

 

Moon Glow is a Twin size quilt and table runner pattern in one, using my new Glow fabric line.

Thank you again for stopping by so much this past week, it was great fun for me and such a confidence booster to hear your great comments before I show the book to the quilting industry.

See you when I get back.

Fast & Furious projects - last post!

Oh, it's kind of sad that this is the last post, I have really enjoyed doing this every day and getting so much feedback from you. I just love it and apreciate it soooooo much.

 

Here is the last table runner in the book, it is called Curvaceous and this one is made out of a fabric line called Arcadia by Sanae for Moda. It is very contemporary and different, the colors are very unique and that is why I chose it for this runner. Who knew that my photographer had a chair in this exact same yellow color!! It matched perfectly!

The runner on the left is made from my Journey fabric line in more traditional color.

I can see this runner done up in many different fabrics; it would be cool to make the colors go from light to dark, dark to light or tone from one color to another as you choose fabrics from the center out. I am sure I will be making this one again.......and again!!

 

 

Last but not least I have the third set of Place mats from the book.

 

These are called Faster Feedings, mainly for the fact that they are super fast to make. They would be perfect for a beginner starting out in quilting. You only choose 3 fabrics and that makes it easy to match your decor in the kitchen. The place mats above are made from my Glow fabric.

This version is made from the Arcadia fabric line. They would be perfect for a modern home or almost a retro decor.

 

I hope you have enjoyed the week with me and the projects from Fast & Furious. My goal is always when writing a book or a pattern to make the most of each publication so that the quilter will feel like they are getting a lot for their money. I hope I accomplished that with this book, my wish is that quilters will keep going back to it for quick projects.

Remember to keep commenting to be added to the giveaway. If you are visiting for the first time today, feel free to go back to the other posts this week and comment to increase your chances of winning!! I will see you on monday with the winners. Have a great Mother's Day! Mine will be spent on the soccer field (actually very appropriate since that is where I have spent a big part of my motherhood years!!)

Happy Friday - Fast & Furious post 5

Thank you for all of your wonderful comments and kudos to you that have been visiting every day. Today you get to see 3 more projects out of the book.

 

This is a fun runner to make and decorate with because of it's shape. The one on the left is made from my Glow fabric and the one on the table is made with Moda's Glace fabric line.

 

These little guys are Lucky Charms. They are so fun to make that I just couldn't stop. All you need to make the runner is a single charm pack!! You use some for the top and the rest you piece together for the backing. Easy as Pie. I don't know about you but I seem to have a few charm packs laying around all the time so these guys are perfect for them. Dig into your button jar for some fun buttons to use and set aside a couple of hours to make this from start to finish.

 

Have any charm squares left over? Then you can make these from the left overs; Spill Charms, coasters. They are superfast, for 4 coasters you need 9 charm squares!! I have been making these and giving as hostess gifts and birthdays all winter. I made some out of winter fabrics and tied them to a pretty tin of hot chocolate and gave to my girlfriends for their December birthdays. It can be a great out of the spur idea because they only take you about 30 minutes to make!!

I hope you have a great weekend, mine is gonna be busy!! Remember to add your comments to be added to the drawing. Last post is tomorrow and then I will leave the drawing open for comments open all day Sunday.

More projects from the book - post 5

Today you will see two projects, a table runner and another placemat.

 

This is Stack' Em Up; a long runner you can make out of layer cake squares with some border fabrics. This one is made with Glow, my new fabric line and I used the softer tones in the line.

This version is made out of a brand new christmas line from Moda called Figgy Pudding. I just love this line, it has very untraditional colors but it is so fun.

I will definitely be making something for my house out of this line for christmas!! (or...maybe I should finish my quilt from last year I was gonna have finished for christmas!!)

This runner is nice and long so it would fit great on a buffet, a sofa table or a dresser.

 

The placemats are also done out of the Figgy Pudding (layer cake leftovers!) along with some green fabric from my Journey fabric line (it worked great together). These are called Tree Time Placemats and are really fun. We added some bling to the trees because we were using christmas fabrics. They don't have to be christmassy (is that even a word!), you could use regular fabrics for a northwoodsy feel.

That's it for today. Tell me if you make something for christmas every year....I strive to do that....I always start something, but don't always finish. At least not the things I am making for me!!

Keep commenting, we have two more posts after this one and then a drawing on sunday!!

Fast & Furious projects - part 4

Today I would like to introduce my adorable models I borrowed for the photoshoot. They were both just so cute and did a great job.

 

Above is my lovely neighbor Quinn playing on one of the baby quilts in the book, Sweet Chirps. This quilt is so quick and fun, it is made with fat quarters or a Layer Cake pack. The fabrics I used are from In The Beginning fabrics and I believe the line is called Feathered Friends. Isn't he just a cutie?

 

This is Loren playing with the third baby quilt Lickety Split. I made this quilt with flannels, mostly from Sandy Henderson's designs with Michael Miller. This quilt is a little bigger size so it is perfect as a play or cuddle quilt for a toddler. Loren is a total cutie who lives on our street, she reminds me so much of my daughter when she was her age. Very active and kind of a tomboy princess!! If you don't know what that is, visualize this:.....I would find my daughter climbing trees and picking worms with the boys, wearing her princess outfit and tiara!

 

Hungry Man Placemats are really fun, kind of rustic so this was the perfect setting....crusty bread, cheese and a big 'ol Beer. These would look great at a cabin in colors similar to those. The fabrics are from my last line of fabrics Journey which is available now.

Thank you for all the love on the projects in the previous posts. Keep commenting to increase your chances of winning a book. A lot of you have asked me where to get the book. I support my quilt shop owners by not selling directly to the consumer. I would love it if you encouraged your local quilt shop owners to order the book, but if they don't there are lots of shops that you can order from online or by phone. The books are going to the distributors now....but If you can't wait...Rosebud's Cottage has them, Quilted Treasures and The Fat Quarter Shop will have them very soon!!!

More Projects from Fast & Furious

Here are more projects from the book. This is one of the three baby quilts in the book and it is called Grandma Glo's Goodness.

 

I used a fabric line from Hoffman called In the Woods and the result was a really happy quilt fit for a girl or a boy.

 

This version was made with a fabric line from Free Spirit called Robots and it has just the greatest colors and prints for a little boy. I used some minkee backing for this quilt and my kids are already fighting over it...it's a good thing that it is going to market soon!

 

Here is the second bag in the book, The Runaround bag. It is made with the new Glow fabric. This bag is so quick and fun to do. It has lots of inside pockets.

Please send me your comments so you can be entered in the big giveaway (see previous post), extra entries if you let your friends know about it on your blog. Which fabric combo do you like better?

See you tomorrow....

More book projects

Thank you for all the book love, it makes me all warm and fuzzy after working so hard on this. Here are more projects from the book.

 

The square quilt you might have seen before. It is called Tea Time Honey and is made with a Moda Honey Bun (1-1/2" strips). The fabric line is Patisserie by Fig Tree and it is so gorgeous. I actually made all of these projects out of the one honey bun roll plus a little bit for borders and binding, and I even had some leftover to make even more coasters.

The runner is called Skinny Minnie and it's a great size for smaller tables since it is only 10-1/2" x 31".

 

The coasters are called Honey Catchers. The larger one works great for under a pitcher or you can easily make a hotpad out of it by using a few layers of batting or the heat insulating batting (I forgot what it is called...help!)

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The Giveaway

I decided to make this a big one guys...since I will be posting every day this week about all of the projects in the book, I will have a drawing for a book out of each posting next weekend. That means, at least 6 books and perhaps I will throw some GLOW fabric in there too!! Be sure to comment on every post to increase your chances on getting your hands on the book for free. If you have a blog and post about the book promo week and the giveaway, please tell me about it and you will get 5 extra entries into the drawing.

until tomorrow....

New book is in the house!!

My baby is born and is resting at home!! Like any proud mama I say that it is even prettier in person. We are going to have to recruit some friends to get all the boxes situated but I am ready to celebrate!!

Meet : Fast & Furious, quilting as you go!!!!

    

The book has 17 projects in all shapes and sizes that are all done with the quilt as you go method so they are superfast. I am going to introduce them all to you in the next few days. The runner on the cover is called Afternoon Snack and is made from my new fabric line GLOW. It will be introduced at market and will be in stores in the fall. I will have to show you more pictures of that runner later because I taught that one in my workshop in Iceland and all of the 65 runners looked all so different in various fabrics.

The bag on the front is called Strip To The Beach Bag. It is a great  bag to load up your stuff and head out in a hurry. Whether it is for the beach or boat, yoga class or a quilting retreat, the bag is put together in a jiffy. It uses 2-1/2" strips also!! Great use for those Jelly Rolls!!

Let me know what your first impression is, send me some love please!! I will draw a name from the comments and send you a book....hot off the press!!!