Swallow Messenger Bag now available on Etsy!

The Swallow messenger bag is my favorite of the many bags I have come up with so far. It is roomy, comfortable, and full of pockets. This pattern is now available in my shop, on Etsy. Check it out there:

http://www.aprilcobbdesigns.etsy.com/

Time just ticks away each day...

Since you probably haven't met yet, this is my husband, Jay Cobb. Really, he has nothing to do with sewing or crafting or the other things I usually post about on this blog... except that his recent endeavors have taken me away from making new crafts to blog about. I do have a couple of things up my sleeve, which I will tell you about when I get a chance. But I wanted to let you know what Jay has me up to so you understand why my posts are growing more sparse.

Jay has been holding town hall meetings and doing a lot of speaking in public.

Jay is running for US Congress in Utah's new 4th district.  This is a huge undertaking, and I am his right hand woman. I personally called over 125 delegates last week. See why I have no time?

Here is an article that just came out about him:

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/53086216-90/approach-cobb-district-field.html.csp

This is his website:
www.jaycobbforcongress.com

I promise I won't ignore you forever.

xoxo

Amy Butler Weekender

It seems that so many people are inspired/excited/terrified when it comes to this bag. Everyone seems to want to make it and are scared to do it at the same time. This is why I am going to make it. I am going to make it a few times until I really get it. So I am about 1/2 of the way into the process of making bag number one. I'll keep you posted and let you know how it goes. And then when I get it down and have a few cute bags to show for it, I will let you in on my tips on how you can be inspired and excited and not terrified at all. Hooray. I can't wait to pull it together. Wish me luck!

Ruffle Duffle Variations

It is so fun to see how the same pattern can turn out looking so differently with different fabrics. The picture below is a bag I made for a friend's daughter. I love the Summer Song by Riley Blake Line. And it perfectly fits this 8-year-old's personality.

My neighbor made this one for her teenage daughter's ballroom dance class bag. Adorable.

If you complete yours, please email me a picture. I would love to see it!

So How Do We Feel About Wrap Skirts?

I recently got this idea that I wanted to make a wrap skirt. It was somewhat inspired by a couple of wrap skirts my mom made me when I was little. I was 9 in the picture above, wearing one of those skirts with my gymnastics T-shirt. I was waiting for the bus out in front of our house and fruit stand. I loved that skirt. So I grabbed some fabric from my stash and threw this reversible wrap skirt together.

Side one.

I used this fabric because it would either make a cute skirt year-round or I could convert the whole thing into a Christmas Tree skirt if my project went bad.

Side two.

What do you think? Is this in style? Do you think wrap skirts are flattering? Do grown women wear wrap skirts? Are they better suited to children?  WOULD YOU WEAR THIS?

These are not rhetorical questions. I really need opinions. Please post your opinion. :)

Sew Serendipity

Another fun person to meet face-to-face at quilt market was the delightful Kay Whitt. I love her patterns for clothing. I have a stack of patterns and a couple of her books that I want to use to make more clothes. It makes me wonder what it is that brings her into the quilter world rather than the McCalls/Butterick world. There are not too many clothing designers with booths set up at quilt market. But it seems like there is huge room for growth in these emerging markets. Clothing really is my first love in sewing. I can sew bags backwards, blindfolded, and in my sleep. But I really want to be able to better design clothing. So I asked Kay lots of questions, and she was full of insight and very helpful.

Isn't she cute and little?

I love her beautiful samples here. She uses so much color with a touch of vintage and a lot of Joel Dewberry fabric, which is always a plus in my book.

Isn't this funky? Love it. Don't know if I would be bold enough to wear it.

This is my favorite of her creations. This book, Sew Serendipity, is wonderful. I made the dress below with a pattern from this book and hope to make many more of her designs from the book.

I made the dress in Amy Butler fabric. It is comfortable and so fun to wear.

I also started this dress, which is a Kay Whitt pattern. I did not complete the pattern though. The reasons are these:

#1. It is way too busy... don't you think? I would look like a clown in it.

#2. I took my measurements when I was nursing, so I made the large. I am probably a small in this particular pattern because when I put the dress on, it was ENORMOUS on me. The dress has one long side seam so I could just take it in, but I would be embarrassed to wear it, walking down the street because it is so bright and wild.

So what do I do? Should I complete the Kay Whitt dress in"Wonderland by Momo for Moda" fabric or do I cut it up and make bags out of the fabric? What do you think?

Big Headband SALE

You have heard me ramble on and on about my headbands. Well, I have put a bagillion of them for sale on my etsy site. Most are $5.00 each, and if you buy 4 or more, I will refund (paypal back) your shipping. I thought I should let my friends know before I email my headband customers and let them in on it.

My etsy address is: http://www.aprilcobbdesigns.etsy.com/

PETB-- "People for the Ethical Treatment of Butterflies"

I have been super busy. For 3 1/2 days I sat at a cute temporary boutique in my neighborhood called "Oh Sweet Sadie". It was a lot of fun but a lot of work and long hours. I have to be there to sell my headbands. I did well. I met some great people, including Shari Butler who designs fabric for Riley Blake. She saw a headband I made out of her fabric and introduced herself. She is as sweet as her cute designs.

On another topic:

I was super impressed by the beautiful work of so many vendors there. I saw a lot of hoopla about some beautiful jewelry that incorporated real butterfly wings. People were enjoying and buying them up. I immediately appreciated their beauty, but another thought crossed my mind right after. Did they kill butterflies to make these charms? It probably didn't cross anyone else's mind. And I am not a big animal lover person. I just feel for those little creatures. So you can laugh at me, but I actually grieved when our goldfish, Sam, died. And I am glad that I didn't get to know any of the butterflies that so many ladies are wearing around now.

The jewelry I have shown here wasn't actual jewelry from the vendor at the boutique. I found the pictures online just so you would get the idea. Am I nuts? What do you think?

Enthusiasm

There is nothing I appreciate more than enthusiasm. Look at this woman in her glorious outfit. Could there possibly be a better place to wear such an outfit as the International Quilt Market? I think not. More power to you, lady! How could I just wear Grey that day? I am so boring.

Kate Spain Is One Smart Fortune Cookie

Well this is the Central Park line of fabrics by Kate Spain that just spoke to me. I love all of these. I have several jelly rolls and charm packs stashed away. I am just hoarding them until I figure out what to do with all of them. I also made a baby quilt out of this lovely line.

Well, I thought I would never be able to love again after that line cleared off the shelves. At market, I found out that I  was wrong. I love love love Kate's new line:

I also adore the quilt that she made out of the fabric from this line. That's it, there behind us.

Kate is just like she she seems from her blog. She is caring, gracious, and genuinely interested in others. She is also very smart because she handed out fortune cookies, probably to form an association with her new line. Well, anyone that hands me a cookie (in almost any form) is sure to get my attention. I certainly won't forget the name of her line. Yum. Just like that yummy fabric!

I am LOVE STRUCK With Sandi Henderson's Secret Garden

I saw the navy palate of this Secret Garden Line at Material Girls Quilt Shop before market and fell in love. I don't know what it is about that color, especially with pink.

Then low and behold, I stumble upon the booth of the creator who has coincidentally designed many of my favorite lines. I have made more headbands out of this girl's fabric. I should buy stock in her business.

Sandi displayed many cute ideas using her fabric line. I love this little tuxedo style apron. I am afraid I would drip spaghetti or ketchup straight down the front of it and ruin it for good, but it is perfect for a neat, lovely little child who could be adored by all.

Sandi showed me her wonderfully practical, large and well-thought out market bag. I could use one of those at the farmers market for sure. She told me that this was her favorite colorway of the fabric line. How could everyone not LOVE LOVE LOVE the navy most, I ask? I guess she is entitled. And I do love this color scheme too.

Here is Sandi herself. I made her model this wonderful vintage umbrella that she restored herself using my fabric favorite, in a laminate, of course, so that water doesn't drip all over and soak a person.

Later that night, after attending the Houston Quilters Guild party, which was mucho mucho fun, I ran into my friends again. I know. It isn't like I have known Sandi, Amber, and Sarah for too long. But after spending the better part of an hour with a person, you feel like friends. You know who Sandi is. Amber is a hoot too. She is a friend of Sandi's and very creative herself. See her blog. Keep an eye on that girl. She is talented and fun. Sarah Jane is next to Amber. Sarah is the cousin of my friend, Hannah and I met Sarah at a boutique I did many years ago. I bought beautiful art work from her that is on the wall in my girls' room. She is now putting her beautiful illustrations of childhood on fabric for Michael Miller. The other folks on the end were super sweet, but I don't know who they are to be honest. Lots o' creativity in this photo. Check out Sarah Jane's blog.

Anyway, it was a wonderful experience meeting such fun and creative women. Now go look at that fabric. You won't be able to resist. I am just trying to decide which room of my house to redo in Secret Garden.

Ty Pennington Moonlights As A Fabric Designer

So yes, Ty was there promoting his line of fabric. He is very, very nice but very much a celebrity. He had his cute little hat and he had his cell phone that he seemed a bit distracted with, and he had his people. I would have taken a picture of his people, but one of his people were taking this picture of us. They were two guys in suits that looked like body guards. Now you don't see the remarkable Sandi Henderson walking around with body guards or even Amy Butler. But this guy has his people. And I asked one of them. "So, are you guys like Ty's 'people'? He responded, "what?" And I replied, "So you guys are his people? We all need to have our people, don't we?" And one of the people just smiled. It was funny.  

I am not sure if Ty's people also sew, but I am pretty confident that Ty didn't make the very apropos ties out of all of his fabric that hung in the back of his booth. I don't think Ty was even wearing one of his own ties. I am pretty sure it was some little lady in Kansas that sewed all of the nice things in his booth. I hope Ty, or at least Ty's people thanked her for her hard work.

This is my friend, Kelly Biscopink who works at F + W Media and who has the coolest last name, don't you think? She is inspired and has a blog that is just as inspiring. Check it out. We took this picture because she really couldn't leave her booth but we wanted a picture with Ty together. We are holding the autographed copy of his picture that he gave me. I had him sign it for my daughter who will think it is really cool (when she loses the attitude and starts behaving appropriately and I decide to give it to her.) My kids know all about Ty because Extreme Makeover Home Edition built a home in our neighborhood.

Lila Tueller of Riley Blake

This is the logo from Lila Tueller's blog. I ripped it off. ;) 

When I found Lila's booth, I instantly felt at home. I have watched her fun designs for quite a while and was excited to finally meet her. Somehow, I feel like I know these people from being a blog stalker, but really I am just a stranger to them. Not anymore. I had a long talk with Lila and her wonderful staff. I bought a truck load of her patterns, and I managed to resist the cute sugar cookies she had perched on her table. They brought them in their carry-ons. She lives near me and is just a really nice person that I could relate to.

I have a storage seat like this one, but why haven't I made cute seat pads for it like she has? When I got tired later in the day, I was tempted to come back to this cozy "bed" and take a nap. Is that unprofessional?

I am a sucker for piles of cute stuff. And all of her beautiful colors and designs are too adorable not to gawk at.

Lila has a bunch of new totes, cases, and container like bag patterns that really showcase her beautiful fabrics nicely.

Do you just love this dress as much as I do? I made it in different fabrics from her pattern this year. It is one of my favorites. And it is a pattern that has inspired me. I love this girl, and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.

Quilt Market Houston --Saturday

It was a little crazy of me to go to the quilt market this year because it has been such a busy month. Plus this wonderful event is right up against Halloween. We decided that one day would be enough. I flew in at 10:30pm Friday night and flew out this morning (Sunday) at 6:05 am. Yes, YAWN, I am exhausted right now with 4 hours of sleep and a little nap this afternoon. But it was worth it. I can't wait to tell you of my experience there. This experience will be broken into several blog posts so I don't skim on the goods.

So if you have ever been to quilt market, you know what I mean when I say that this thing is BIG. I borrowed this picture above, I obviously didn't get up on the rafters yesterday and take an overhead shot (though I am known to stop at nothing to get a good peek through my lens.

The majority of the market is a little old school. I am sort of glad because if there weren't so much to brush right past, it would take a week to get through the whole thing. It's sort of like, "That one is ugly, that booth is old fashion, that style is super country, that stuff is just YU-CKY!! Ahh, there is something I love. I'll stop here."

Now this is Tula Pink. She has a great personality and wonderful design style. Her fabric is AMAZING. She is edgy and fun at the same time. And you have to love her shoes with her signature PINK. Check out her blog if you don't know what I am talking about.

I just thought this fabric display was too cute. Don't you love it? It made me crave sushi. This was a display from Gourmet Quilter.