Sandy Klop/American Jane Trunk Show Part 2

I'm glad you enjoyed the first part. It's nice to bond with all you other Team Sandy members out there. I can't say I did anything to merit this opportunity - just sheer luck that the owner of the shop where I work happened to invite my favorite designer to her annual retreat!

Ready for Part 2? We now return to the Sandy Klop Trunk Show already in progress.

This quilt is called Folk Art Fancy and the pattern is available at the American Jane Shop as are the patterns for all the quilts in this post. This quilt was made from blocks from an exchange and Sandy's stash.

This beauty is a mix of prints from Building Blocks Basics and Peas and Carrots fabric collections. 

Here's a close up of some of the prints and details.
(Look at that cute Pez fabric.
Word from Sandy: Moda is going to reprint!)

This one blows my mind a little. It's HUGE. But I love it. And Peas and Carrots is probably one of my all-time favorite collections.  I made a Peas and Carrots quilt myself, but it's nothing compared to this baby.

 Four on the Floor from the Look and Learn collection.

 I'm sad I only have this blurry picture of one of my all time favorites of Sandy's quilts, Merry Go Round.

Here's a close up.

 Pretzel Party 

 Black Diamond made with Recess fabric collection.

 Triple Crown made with Sandy's Recess collection.

 Wagon Wheels made from Sandy's Happy Camper collection.

I also love the View Master quilt made from the panel from Happy Camper.

This applique quilt, Mothers and Daughters was also made with the Happy Camper fabrics.

This quilt is called Oh My Stars and is 94" square!

It was made with star blocks from a quilt exchange as well. 

Around the Block made with Sandy's Punctuation collection.

(Again, sorry, not the greatest photo.) 

 French Country made with Le Petit Poulet collection

 Crosswise made with more Petit Poulet

Party in the Hen House

This is a Block of the Month quilt called Playtime.

Another Block of the Month Quilt called Alphabet Quilt.

Whew! I feel like I've sprinted to the finish. That is definitely most of the quilts Sandy brought but not all. I'm glad you liked them too. I just love the colors especially - the bright, primary colors feel so classic.

I have one of Sandy's books American Jane's Quilts For All Seasons: And Some for No Reason.  I love it, if only for the cover quilt alone, but it is full of goodness. And I was kicking myself for not bringing it with me to have her sign it.

So I purchased the Merry-Go-Round pattern (which I've been meaning to do for a while now) 

and she graciously signed the cover. I think I'll frame it. :)

This really was a dream come true. I am trying to think how many quilts I've made with Sandy's fabrics - at least a dozen, if not more. Every time one of her collections hits the shop where I work, I always ask to make the sample for the store. (And my boss kindly obliges.)

Many thanks again for coming Sandy!  I think every person there thoroughly enjoyed her. She was so much fun.  And hopefully she doesn't think I'm some crazy stalker. (Which, okay maybe I am, but I don't want her to think that.)

Sandy Klop Trunk Show Part 1

Meet Sandy Klop. Who I totally loved from afar for her cheerful fabric and pattern designs (American Jane) but meeting her in real life just cemented her destiny as one of my all-time favorite people ever. She is every bit as fun and cute and happy as her creations.  Here my friend Meridee realized she had the American Patchwork & Quilting issue (Feb 2009) with Sandy's interview with her at the retreat.  Look, Sandy is even wearing the same polk-a-dot sweater!

And so without further ado, I give you Part 1 of Sandy's trunk show. I think there were probably almost 40 quilts in her show and I don't want to blow your mind with all of them at once.  I'll give you a few to savor now and the rest in a couple of days.

This first quilt is called Edy's Quilt. (The pattern for this one and most of the other from her show are available at her website.)  It is a more recent quilt and was stunning.

(Disclaimer here: I have to apologize that my photos are not the greatest. It was a room full of people, in the evening without great light and I was standing on chair in toward the back.  But for you fellow SK lovers, I did my best.)

She shared her quilts in chronological order, sharing her story of quilting and designing in the process. Here is an earlier quilt.

This was a quilt she made with fabrics collected on a trip to Avingnon, France called Dancing Ladies.  She had this quilt hanging at Market when she was first approached by Moda Fabrics. The Dancing Ladies pattern is available on her site.

Fabrics from one of her earlier collections for Moda called Apple Pie. I still have a tiny bit of that blue with the white dots horded that I'm using for my Union Jacks. The quilt is called Apple Crisp.

This quilt is an Album quilt using the Apple Pie fabrics as well.

 Here's a closer look at the Apple Pie quilts. I love the red dot as the background.

Another quilt made with Apple Pie. The name escapes me.

Also, the beginning of the American Jane pin dot.

Building Blocks was Sandy's first vintage childhood collection. 

This pattern is called Letter Box. Don't you love the measuring tape fabric from this one??

This quilt was amazing. All the game boards are pieced with fabric. 

My favorite is the Chinese Checkers board.

This pattern is still available too. It's called Learn to Play. So darn cute.

 One more Building Blocks quilt called Primarily House.  (My full size pictures are too blurry.)

So there you go. More fabulosity to come.

Quilt Retreat

I got away for 24 hours of sewing bliss.  Check out this hive of activity. 

The greatest women with their machines humming.

We stayed at the Zermatt Resort - a Swiss-themed getaway in Midway, Utah.

I'm sort of over snow, but it did add to the ambiance.

All we needed was a Matterhorn.

The food was delish. Tacos and gellatto.

But the best part was Sandy Klop.  (Don't hate me because I'm beautiful sewing close to the real live Sandy!)

You can see some of my Sandy Klop/American Jane love here.

She was even more lovely, fun, gracious, hilarious and patient with all of us paparazzi than you would expect.

More pictures to come. Including Sandy's trunk show!

Life is full.

Life feels crazy at the moment. CRAZY. We have so much going on I feel like I can't even keep track of everything. The school play is every night this week - it's turned out very darling, but I'm kind of excited to be done sewing wizard and renaissance princess costumes for a while.  

My husband has been out of town and is basically working a second job on top of his regular job. And still recovering from knee surgery. And it's his birthday this weekend.  Oh, and he's partially responsible for the media coverage around an event where some guy named Mark Zuckerburg is coming to speak on Friday.

I've been working extra time myself on the Quilt Market Meetup and starting to wonder what I was thinking when I took that project on. It's so out of my comfort zone - I'm much more relaxed just holed-up in my basement alone with my sewing machine. But things are starting to come together and I'm getting excited, although still wondering where I'm going to pull the time from to do everything to prepare. 

On top of all this, yesterday the local Rec Center called to tell me that since no on else had responded to the call for a coach for the 6-yr-old boys team, and I was the only one who had responded to any email (I'd responded to tell them that my husband couldn't do it this time around because of his knee surgery) they were putting me in charge of the team. Wait . . seriously? 

And in the midst of all this, I had the crazy notion that I could go to a quilt retreat.  It's something I planned after getting a taste last year, but having no idea what that actual week would bring. And here we are. So I won't go to the whole thing as I'd hoped.

With all that has been going on, I've been starting to feel a little bit like a drama queen/whiner. 

from Tea Rose Home (those are my hands!)

Which is why I am grateful for events like this to put life in perspective.

Last Saturday I was able to attend the humanitarian event that April put together, assembling quilts to be sent for relief in Japan.  Here you can see April at her machine talking to Sachiko who's family lives in the affected areas of the disaster.  April counted at least 96 women who showed up to help and there may have been more. Almost 40 quilts were assembled in one day.  It's not too late to help.  April just received large fabric donations from Fat Quarter Shop and Robert Kaufman and she will send some of it to you to assemble donor quilts. Read here for information.

Having Sachiko there made the event even more meaningful.  You can read more about Sachiko's and her family's experiences and other ways to help here.

I have a couple of the quilts at my house in need of binding. 

And I need to do it pronto.

So life is full. But it's a good full. I'm reminded that as busy as my husband is right now, it's because he's blessed to have a job that provides for our family and work that he enjoys. I won't take that for granted. And the fact that my children are busy means that they are healthy and lucky to have the opportunity participate in school plays and soccer teams. I am blessed to have my kids and to be needed by them. 

And the reason I have piles of laundry and dishes is because we have clothes to wear and food to eat.  I am blessed to have a hobby that I enjoy and the wonderful associations with other like-minded friends (you!) that have come through it. I'm also blessed to have a supportive husband, who in the midst of all that he has on his own plate, supports me in my own pursuits.  

And I still have a small stash of Girl Scout Cookies hidden away. Life is good.