Art Gallery Fabrics-The Creative Blog

NEW GIVE AWAY!!

Do you remember the two birds who love fabrics?? I'm talking about Lindsay & Charley from Fabric Supplies on Etsy.

They now launched their own online fabric store: Hawthorne Threads, and they are offering an AWESOME give-away on their site with my products!! I'm so excited for the gifts! See what you can win: 

1st Prize:

One of my FIRENZE BAG KITS!!

 
This kit includes a pattern with instructions, fabrics, muslin, cording, color coordinated thread and zipper - all necessary materials except interfacing!
What a great splurge for yourself, or gift for the sewist in your life!

2nd & 3rd Prizes:

One Fat Quarter set of my GIRLY GIRL Fabrics each! (sweet colorway)

 
"Girly Girl blends flirty flower designs with geometric lines creating a charming look. These playful and bubbly prints will inspire you to create beautiful designs for your sweet girl."

To register for their giveaway, simply click on their site HERE.

If you blog about their shop, or this giveaway, you will receive an additional 10 entries!

Winners will be selected at random Monday November 16th, and will be announced in our newsletter. Thank you Charlie and Lindsay!!

So rush to their new site www.hawthornethreads.com, and register to win!! You can buy all my fabrics there too!!

 

Love,

Pat

CONTINUOUS BIAS BINDING 101 TUTORIAL

Long, long time without a tutorial, right? My apologies for letting you down that long...

Well, I want to share this new one that I think you'll like.

 

Why continuous binding? Because I receive tons of e-mails asking if I use any special binding techniques on the quilts I send to magazines and also on my quilt patterns. Many quilters use regular binding: they cut strips selvage to selvage and piece them together to get a long piece. 

But, like Ricky Tims says, "if we don't want to get caught by the quilting police let's do the traditional way", that is continuous bias binding.

I know, I know... many of us find out to do bias binding a tedious endeavour! Let me show you an EASY, FAST and FUN method to get yards and yards of  perfect pieced bias binding.

 

You can find on the right sidebar under "Tutorials" or see it right here. Don't forget to let me know what you think, I love your feedback.

Hope you enjoy and can put it to use many times. I always enjoy sharing with you...

Btw, do you like the new look of my blog?

With all my love,

Pat

NEW PRODUCTS (Sewing Kits)

Hi girls!!

Welcome to KITLAND, and beware: in this land, the era of easy sewing has begun!!

 

Are you seeing quadruple? No, there are four! Four different styles to suit your needs. The main idea comes from my lately obsession to simplify and make practical everything that crosses in front of me (is this because I'm getting closer to 48 years old??) 

I hate the idea of going fifty places (well, kind of... between b&m and online shops) to find all the accessories if I'm about to sew a handbag. The right color of thread, the magnetic closure, the matching color for the zipper, and on a special chapter: the piping cord for handles. It's so difficult to find a good quality cord that is the right size and doesn't bend easily!! 

This idea of putting everything together has been on my "to accomplish list" for a long time... And after a LOT of research for the perfect accessories, I proudly want to introduce to you my GRAB 'N SEW KITS

 

They include all the essential materials needed to complete each project, along with the corresponding pattern, matching accessories and notions, all packed in a signature kit bag. In KITLAND, everything is chosen for you to simplify your life and spend your time where it really matters: at your sewing room!

 

So, one by one, they are:

FIRENZE KIT

 

Sweetness, tenderness, dreamy...

 

We included the exact amount of all fabrics and even the muslin to give this purse a soft body.

MILANO KIT

 

Vintage, classy, elegant...

 

Did you see this lovely vintage rhinestone brooch? It's included too!!

VERONA KIT

 

Sporty, simple, casual...

 

MY FIRST PLAYMAT KIT

 

Cute, fun-loving, baby-caring..

 

There is nothing that makes me more happy these days because everybody loved this idea! THANK YOU SO MUCH for the overwhelming response; the first line of production is sold out!! We are preparing the second one for the middle of November (it seems that all the shops are preparing a great selection of gifts for this coming Christmas...)

I would love to hear your comments! ... and don't forget to subscribe to my feed because you could win one of these kits soon!

If you want more info about delivery dates, please visit www.artgalleryfabrics.com Enjoy!

With all my love,

Pat

NEW PRODUCTS!!

On these posts I want to show you all the new products we launched at Quilt Market. I didn't have a chance to post them before because... as you know, I would need a 48 hours' day to do everything!! But lately, I look like "The Road Runner" and try to put my schedule up-to-date. Well... in theory! :)

I have so many pictures of new products that I'm going to divide this post in three. I'll start with my new patterns:

W-H-A-T  A  J-O-Y!

Many people asked me about a line of sewing patterns. It took me some time... but I did it! My aim was to make patterns with cristal clear instructions, fun to make and stylish and modern for today's women. I joined forces with a terrific pattern writer, Jennifer Eskridge, who interpreted perfectly my vision of making a pattern that a beginner sewer can do without any help at all!

 
I designed 6 patterns: 4 new and 2 updated from older versions that are very popular.

This is the FIRENZE BAG!

Do you love it as much as I do? And it's sooo easy to make!!

It's the perfect beginners' bag. Flirty, fun and trendy!

The picks above were done with my Girly Girl collection in Aqua Garden. Here is a shot with different fabrics from the same group.

This is the MILANO BAG!

 

All my patterns come in a booklet style format, so no more lost sheets and templates! Look at the handy flap we made in the back... For international sewers, we included a metric conversion chart.

Here is a picture of one of the pages. They are in full color and with one diagram for each step of the process!

So sleek and sophisticated, it's a must for your wardrobe... Don't you agree?

I love vintage brooches, and this model was perfect for some spark!

The pattern cover was done in Alhambra II group Spanish Petals Buttercup. Here are some other choices in fabric you can try...

 

Also new is the VERONA BAG!!

Fresh, sporty, your everyday tote! I can fit a small laptop... It has many pockets! Here in Revive Collection in Lilac Graphic Bloom and Plum Dotted Curves.

I am in LOVE with all my handbags!! I felt in heaven designing them...

Another new pattern is THE TRAVEL SET. Not more chaos in your suitcase!

This pattern includes instructions to make a laundry bag, a shoe bag (that can fit up to 2 pair of shoes) and a stylish tri-fold lingerie bag with many roomy pockets for all your intimates!

An organized way to travel, don't you think?

Two new updated versions of two popular patterns, THE TOY BOX and MY FIRST PLAYMAT. Now are done with this new booklet style format and even more instructions. How about that?

Here in my Girly Girl group

Fabrics in the playmat from my Color Splash Line.

Well, did you like them? Which one did you like the most? I love your feedback!

We started shipping last week, so you maybe not find them on some stores yet. If you want to get them right NOW (and I hope you do), one first choice is to go to www.fatquartershop.com . They got them last week, and ALL of them!! If you prefer to shop at your favorite quilt store online, also check on the shops on the left sidebar of the blog. They will be receiving them in the coming weeks.

For shop owners, check with your local rep or go to www.artgalleryfabrics to order online. 

 

Handmade rocks... so let's keep on stitching!

Pat

QUILT MARKET 2009 RECAP (Part 2)

Yesterday I was tweeting that I have soo many pictures to use from the event that I didn't know which ones to choose... OMG! Many of them with poor lighting, because at Houston lights were different that for example... Pittsburgh (there is natural light there). Bah!, I said to myself; there is nothing that a touch of Photoshop can't do. So I took full advantage of curves, auto colors, brightness and such. I wanted all of you to see them! Now is like... magic, all decent enough to use them for this post.

For this second part I wanted to introduce to you an amazing group of people that visited my booth not only to see everything new I had, but just to say hello, chat a little, and share... Because even if each one of us is there to sell our products, Quilt Market is MUCH MORE than that. It's a place where you can feel a sense of community, friendship and support. There is nothing like "everybody have to buy only my stuff... or". No, no. There is room for all of us. We congratulate between designers for our collections, we have dinner together. We talk about our kids and family there. I feel soo happy each year when I come back and see everybody again... good and with health. It is so nice to be there. I think I belong to a big family!! So look at ALL the pictures that I'll show you...

One day before the show starts there is Schoolhouse, where all the companies show their new collections, samples with creative ways to use fabrics and so much more.

 

This was my first Schoolhouse and I was so nervous! We had a great half hour.

Jennifer Eskridge who did the technical writing for my patterns, is explaining how important is to engage beginner sewers with cristal clear instructions.

 

The first day of the show was great. Traci from Hipfabric came to visit us. She has beautiful fabrics at her store. Do you agree that orange looks very nice on her?

 

Lyric from Lyric's Lateedas & Oohlalas in Texas

 

Evelyn and Bryanna from Trimweaver came the first day also. Both of them are really sweet! Do the pictures still look dark?

 

I'm selling fabrics here... Look at my my expression!

 

Second day. Debbie Hearn, from QUILT Magazine. One of the sweetest persons that I met in this industry. They invited me for the 30th anniversary Celebration of her magazine... So many years and each issue is better than the last one!

 

They made a sign to display at my booth with an interview I did... Thank you Debbie!!

 

Ladies and gentelmen, an awesome artist, terrific person and consumated twitterer: Bari J. She designs fabrics for Windham. Her latest collection, ART JOURNAL is beautiful!! Be sure to go to her site and check them all...

 

She was so kind to interviewed me for BOUTIQUECAFE. How exciting was that? Stay tuned to watch the vidcast soon... I was so nervous that I couldn't speak at the beginning!! Look at me!

 

Debbie from MATERIAL GIRLS and our husbands. Can you see the second day is taking a toll on my face? I started to look tired...

 

Here is my dear long arm quilter Kathy Grey

 

Our Illinois rep, Iris Cohen

 

Sarah from FAB SHOP NETWORK

 

Kim Knight from TRUE UP. She wrote a post in her blog and didn't want to put our pictures together. She said she look haggard. Not true!! She looks fantastic!

 

Hey Kim! I love this one!

 

For the last day, you can see the difference... I was so tired that I didn't even put make up on. Look at my dark circles and bags!!

I want to introduce to you a great friend, Beth Hayes. She's the editor in chief of MC CALL'S QUILTING Magazine. She came to my Schoolhouse and I was very happy to see her!

 

And look who is here?? Eleanor Burns, the queen of quilting. OMG!! What an honor to have her in my booth...

 

And who is who in this great group?? Behind me is Laurie Harsh from FABSHOP, and with Eleanor is Carol Veillon from QUILTMANIA Magazine. This picture was so much fun!

 

Wohoo! This post is getting long...Yes, looks like it!!

Here I am with my new customer, from one of the top ten shops in the country. Kimberly Jolly, of FAT QUARTER SHOP. It was a pleasure to finally meet her at Market. She will be introducing my new kits very soon. Be sure to check her site!!

 

For the last two spots I wanted to present to you two great designers that work for Michael Miller. Patty Young is pure dynamite!! She does it all: designs not only fabric, but her own line of sewing patterns for children. And she tweets a lot too!!

 

And the sweet Paula Prass! Her booth was exquisite... It was really nice to meet them both.

 

So, another Quilt Market went by... 30 years! Hope we can celebrate another 30!! I want to thank EVERYONE who came to visit us!! 

Now we start the full circle again... and I love it! I have all my energy ready to send it to you through my fabrics and other products.

Next post will be talking about my other 2 collections, new patterns and my KITS and I couldn't be more excited about!!

 

Handmade rocks... so let's keep on stitching!

Pat

 

QUILT MARKET 2009 RECAP (Part 1)

Hi everyone!!

We finally arrived from Texas last Wednesday evening and we were sooo tired that I needed to sleep a full day to recover... Since Friday and after everything unpacked from boxes, my studio looked like the messiest place ever!! :) TONS of samples, papers, magazines and other stuff that will take me days to start classifying...

Because I wanted to give you a recap rather sooner than later, I started on Saturday sorting more than 500 pictures that my assistant Angie and me were taking during the whole show. You won't believe how nice they came out!

I will try to do this recap in two posts, but there are so many pictures with great people and beautiful products, that maybe two are not enough. Or maybe not even three... Well, let me start somewhere!

 

This is a full size view of my booth (3 booths together). I know... it's a far view, but I wanted to show it to you complete. 

 

This is a left-side view. Hope that lights are good enough!

 

My dear son Alexander wanted to come and help us. I was so happy for that!

Here is my hubby Walter showing the editors of QUILTMagazine our new products for this show. They promised me a full review in their issue. Stay tuned!!

Look! I dedicated a full wall for products made with my dear GIRLY GIRL line. Children clothing, quilts, pillows, decorative bins.

I love to share all these pictures with you. We had so much fun at Market; it's the "everything new to see" event in the industry!!

Here is a close-up view. These adorable bins will be featured in a project on QUILT Magazine this upcoming November issue... Be sure to buy it and make them!

 

These bags are one of my new sewing patterns we presented at this show: MILANO BAG. I am so excited to presented it to you now. We made lots of samples in different fabric combinations... I think the flash was a little bit strong here.

 

This sample was made with ALHAMBRA II Collection. You can buy the pattern at your local quilt & sewing shop here and around the world (yes, patterns are been shipped right now to Europe, Australia, Canada, etc.) Whoohoo!!

 

My other new handbag pattern is FIRENZE BAG. Sweet, trendy, and sooo easy to make!

 

Let me share with you that I will be showing each new pattern in detail in future posts... Here are all together (with steamer in front, oops!):

 

At Art Gallery Fabrics, we greeted our customers with fabric flowers on each chair...

 

OMG!! This post is getting too long! I have so many pictures to show you and I didn't even started...

I think this will do for my first report. But before finishing I want to especially THANK (big thanks) to the person who helped me achieve everything you see here: my dear assistant and right hand Angie. She is an AWESOME professional and a TERRIFIC person. Thank you Angie!!  

 

So this is the first pick at Market. Wait until you see all the pictures I have prepared for you in my second part. More products and more people to see!! 

Handmade rocks... so let's keep on stitching!

Pat

QUILT MARKET INVITATION!

Hi girls!

Can you believe that I didn't sleep wrapping all the samples for the show? So many!! I am about to leave in an hour or so; my sleeping time will be in the car.

This post will be short but didn't want to leave without telling you that you are invited to visit me at QUILT MARKET

  BOOTHS 936-938-1039

We'll be presenting our new collections, as well as my new line of sewing patterns. This is a sneak peak of one of my patterns; hope you like it!!

 

Another preview!

 

I will be showing everything in detail with lots of pictures when I come back from the show...

I will also be at SCHOOLHOUSE!!!

Speaker: PAT BRAVO

Title: DESIGNED TO INSPIRE Pat Bravo will be talking about fabric trends, and how her new Sewing Pattern Line can increase your sales and make your store bloom with more classes than ever!

Room: 372 D

Session: October 9th, 3:45 - 4:15

Hope to see you there!

Well, disconnecting from here 'till Wednesday 14th. I'll be answering emails but not posting.

About to leave...... got a go!

 

Pat

INTRODUCING... NATURELLA!

Like I was telling you the other day, Quilt Market tornado is in full force. We are running against the clock with last preparations.

You will ask me: what happened with the preview of the new collections? I know you would have liked to see them days ago (sorry for that), so here is the first one we'll show at Houston Quilt Market next week....

I am SO HAPPY to introduce to you... NATURELLA!

Do you love it as much as I do? I hope so. With these fabrics I try to connect with all quilters and sewers that want to express their desire for a cleaner earth. This collection is so organic, fresh, and livable that is perfect for many projects!

Imagine tunics, skirts, blouses.... and....handbags. Oh yeah! handbags!

You will find them in 2 colorways: SHIMMER and GLOW. Both are made with an array of neutral shades as a background canvas, and bursts of neon colors that pop the same way that nature does. Here is SHIMMER, with splashes of tangerine orange, poppy red, peach, lemon yellow and citrus green. 

The other colorway is GLOW, shown below. Vibrant pink, pale pink, lavenderish pink, all of them in each design!

These are only strike-offs, so imagine the real fabric. I'm planning to do nice quilt with them...

I think is very versatile for all kind of children clothing and accessories!

I LOVE this print for a girl's dress! I named it GARDEN AQUARELLA...

Be ready to see them at your local store next March.

Stay tuned for the next previews, as well as my first SCHOOLHOUSE which I'll be talking about next post!

Until then, let's keep on stitching!

 

Pat

THE MAIL MAN HAS A SURPRISE FOR YOU

I know, I know, it's so late and didn't anounce the winners! Sorry about that!

The Quilt Market tornado caught me and took me away from you... :) So much sewing samples, designing marketing material to go to print, finishing the launching of my new line of patterns -wait until you see them, they're to die for! From Photoshop -to resize pictures-to Illustrator; back to Photoshop to save for web. Now go to In Design for the new brochures; oh no! Wait! I have to go back to Illustrator for another document... My guess is that... I NEED TO SLEEP! I have so many surprises for you! You'll say: where are the sneak peaks?? They're coming...

You see, I do evetything myself, I supervise all the work. I wanted to get back to you sooner... but with all this it was imposible. Market is around the corner and it's taking me all my time! Do you like the things I have been working around??

 

More on this dress soon!

Now, happy time for the winners of my GIVE-AWAY!! First of all THANK YOU so much for all your comments and compliments about my new line. You guys are awesome!! OMG.. so many comments, 568 in all! You make me feel SO GOOD!

Do you want to know who won??

The first 6 winners are recieving 1 bundle of GIRLY GIRL fabrics each. Here they are:

 

179 Melanie said...

They are all so beautiful, but my favorite, for the project I want to make is Pink Vines. I would make flower hair clips with that one. Otherwise I love bubblegum lollipops.

166 Nima said...

OMG...i love all the prints...i cannot choose one. I think i'll choose orange florets for my cushon series or is that warm exptic blooms that i want...i don't know. I doubt if i could see this fabric in this part of the world... Thank you so much for this genorous giveaway

171 Karen Hillier said...

I would make a baby mat out of Minty Lollipops for my neighbor who is expecting a baby girl! I would use coordinating Girly Girl fabrics to make a fabric box and toys to put in the box! Lovely designs!

348 Tricia L. said...

I love the colors! My fav is the Sun kissed bouquet. I would probably make a quilt with the fabric...maybe a pinwheel for a coworker who is expecting.

123 Ellen Ban said...

The Bubblegum Lollipops are calling out to me for a purse or wristlet. They are all beautiful and would make a gorgeous quilt! What a great line you've designed.

395 Becky S. said...

I just saw you new fabric at the Fat Quarter Shop and I love it! I think my favorite print is the Rose Blooming Chain. I would love to make a fun, girly quilt with these fabrics!!!

And the 2 winners of scrap bags are:

228 Nancy said...

Oh what lovely fabric! I am especially fond of the orange whispers and the turquoise retro bows. I can not decide what I would make from them, although I like your little fabric baskets above. Thanks for the darling giveaway.

383 Gabriela said...

Oh my goodness! How can I ever pick ONE favorite? I like Turquoise and Olive Retro Bows, Berry Whispers, White Blooming Chain, Aqua Garden. I could imagine a bag with Reflections as the outer fabric and it would be lined with Berry Whispers. Or a quilt. Or pillows. Or... the possibilities are endless.

CONGRATULATIONS to the winners and THANK YOU SO MUCH for participate!!

Please email me with your addresses to ship you these babies and then...rush to your doors to wait for the mail man...

If you bought GIRLY GIRL or are planning to do so, please please please! don't forget to upload your creations to my Flickr group.

I promise I'll show some sneak peaks of my new collection in coming posts... until then... back to work!

 

Handmade rocks... so let's keep on stitching

Pat

GIRLY GIRL GIVE AWAY!

Yes girls, GIRLY GIRL is making BIG waves!!

We are bombarded with orders from stores across the country, and not only that, manufacturers and designers of children's clothes are raving about my new line... Thank you all!

Look at some of the beauties I was designing for you:

 

 

It's so easy and fun to create all these beauties; the fabrics are so versatile, the colors so fresh and pleasant, so it feels like to make millions of things!

  

More info on this LOVELY purse soon!

 

 

Isn't it adorable?

If you didn't run to your local shop to buy the collection already, you may find them soon arriving at your home from the post office. How is that?

I'M HAVING A GIVE-AWAY OF GIRLY GIRL FABRICS!!

The first 6 lucky winners chosen will get each a fat-quarter bundle of one colorway (9 prints); another 2 will win a big bag with lots of scraps. How cool is that!

So rush to my website, http://www.artgalleryfabrics.com, tell me which fabric of this collection is your favorite and what beauty you would create with it.

Winners will be choose randomly next Monday, September 21st.

Tell all your friends to participate and don't forget to Tweet and share in Facebook and other social media venues about it. Hope you are one of the lucky ones!

 

Handmade rocks.... so let's keep on stitching!

Patricia