Lizzy House in the house!

LAMQG RULES! Seriously...  First Denyse Schmidt, then Anna Maria Horner and now Lizzy House!  Wow! 

I love this girl!  Her designs to me are so whimsical yet beautiful at the same time.  She talked to us and started by saying:  "Everyone here is an artist.  Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."  She said this with such emotion.  She later explained how much of a struggle she had at school.  She almost failed her first year.  She wanted to quit, but hung in there and finished.  It's so funny... I would have never thought that about her.

She brought along a few quilts that just blew my mind. 

I knew Outfoxed was colorful, but I didn't realze it had every color of the rainbow until I saw this. 

This one has her Hello Pilgrim line.  I love this one too. 

She spoke with such passion and now I totally see it in her work. In a nutshell, she's awesome.   

Lizzy, I really enjoyed hearing you speak about your career and designs.  \

See you in Austin at QuiltCon! 

oxox,

Sunny

Anna Maria Horner in Los Angeles!!

She was here a couple weeks ago....  Can you believe it? Not only did I get to meet my favorite designer, but I also got to take a class with her. She taught a Multi Tasker Tote class and it was fantastic. I've always wanted to go to a Heather Ross weekend sewing workshop but could never get in! She has been a guest teacher on several occasions.

I used to sew a little in high school and stopped when I started college.  I began sewing again after I had Taylor. I began to shop for fabric online and discovered designer fabric! I found this Chocolate Lolliop print and fell in love! I quickly realized that there was a coordinating collection and had to have it! This was the collection that got me hook, line and sinker! I now have a terrible fabric addiction....

After class, she hung out and spoke to our guild. She talked about how she got started. Showed some of her sketches, clothes and of course, quilts.

The funniest part is that she doesn't really consider herself a 'quilter'. Oh, she has a new line coming out in May called 'Field Study'. We got a sneak preview and it's amazing!

Well Anna, I enjoyed my class with you, loved hearing you speak about your career / life.  I don't know how you do it with all those kids!!!  You are truly an inspiration! Please come back to LA soon!

Oxox,

Sunny

Embroidery 101

On Saturday, I got the chance to take an Embroidery class at Lauren's shop, Sew Modern with these lovely ladies! 

Just in case you don't recognize them, they are Cath & Kirsten aka Prints Charming!
Yes!  All the way from Australia!  :)

Check out all the loveliness they brought to inspire us. 
(There is some serious needlework going on over here!)

I don't know how to embroider.  I've always wanted to learn so I was very excited to get started!  :)

Class started and we got our choice of either one of these.

I went with this one because I always use white, and I wanted to try something different. 
Look!  They even provided a little booklet (like CliffNotes!)
Super Cute, huh?

I learned a bunch of new stitches:  blanket, daisy chains, couching and how to hide knots too! 

This is what I came up with at the end of class. 

YEAH,  RIGHT!

Ok! Ok!  This is one of theirs...

Before we knew it, class was over and it was time to say good bye to this dynamic duo.

If you ever have the opportunity to take one of these classes, I highly recommend it!

Kirsten, me & Cath

Kirsten & Cath, I loved meeting you and taking your wonderful class. 

I promise to keep practicing and make you proud. 

Please come back again.

LA Loves you!

Oxox,

Sunny

PS.  Thanks so much, Lauren for arranging such a great class!  :)

Kaffe Fassett in LA

In my opinion, you can't be a quilter and not know who Kaffe Fassett is. A few months ago, I was shopping at one of my favorite LQS's,  Momen+ and I saw this. 

I love color and have always been a fan of Kaffe Fassett's work.  He showed us much of his work (early and current) and his inspiration for his designs.  It was so interesting to find out that he hand stitches everything and hate to use a sewing machine.  He showed us pictures of his design studio and artwork.  I found his pictures to be full of color and so lively.  He is a wonderful artist, desginer and a bad ass knitter!

At the end of his talk, he signed my book.  I was truly inspired....

OXOX,

Sunny

PS, Lizzy House will be in LA in May!  I can't wait!!! 

Denyse Schmidt Workshop

I was lucky enough to take a beginner's improv class with Denyse Schmidt.  When my guild asked if there was any interest in taking a class with Denyse, I thought I was going to faint...  I asked my husband if we could take a family trip to the east coast so I could take one of Denyse's classes.  He said yes.  Now, we don't need to take that trip.  We still might though...

Anyway, back to the workshop....  First of all, Denyse is every bit as awesome and nice as she seems.  She's very laid back and such a great teacher.  I thought I knew how to make an improv quilt.  I was wondering what I would gain from this class.  Boy, did I learn alot!  Using what I have, curves, but the biggest lesson I learned was to "LET GO".  It was so 'freeing' once I did so. 

Here are the first 2 blocks I made only using the fabric that Denyse provided.  Notice the natural curves?  That because I didn't use my ruler.  That was pretty cool too!

Here are the other blocks I made using fabric that I brought.  It's the KJR green posies.  On the bottom left block, I used the wrong side of the fabric by accident.  Denyse saw what I did and said, "Just go with it".  I was like "REALLY?!?!?" So I did and I'm happy to say that I love that block.

I made 2 more blocks a few weeks ago. 

I decided to to turn these blocks into a wall hanging / art quilt that I'll hang in my sewing space. 

It will go nicely with this photo. 

(photo courtesy of Maria.)

Thanks so much for vsiting us, Denyse!!!  You are truly a Rock Star! 

DS, We love you!

oxox,

Sunny

Denyse Schmidt in Los Angeles

I'm a fabric junkie.  There!  I said it!  I love designer fabric and one of my favorite designers is Denyse Schmidt.  I was lucky enough to meet her and take one of her workshops a couple months ago.  My guild flew her in for a weekend in late June. 

One night, she did an artist talk.  She talked about everything from how she started, her partnerships, fabric lines and her inspiration.  She even showed us her sketchbook!  That was fun to look at!

She has a new book coming out in April, so she read us a page from that.

She did a Q & A.



She also showed us photos from her new lines that are available through Joann's.  Sugar Creek will be released in late August and Daisy Mae is coming in November. 

Overall, the talk was so inspirational.  I like her even more if that's at all possible.

xoxo,

Sunny