Desire to Inspire- December Challenger- Mary Pat Proctor

Meet Mary Pat Proctor -She took on the challenge of using “Tickled Pink” by Janet Rae Nesbitt of One Sister Designs in the month of December 2018.

Hi! My name is Mary Pat Proctor and I was so excited to be chosen for the December Desire to Inspire! I live in Eads, TN—just east of Memphis. We love being out in the country with a little land—we used to have a jersey milk cow and some chickens, but now are just down to a dog and cat. I have 3 kids—one married, one in college, and one a senior about to graduate. We have homeschooled and so I’m soon to be starting a different phase in life for sure! 

I learned to sew clothing about 23 years ago—I have had my own window treatment business and children’s boutique clothing business from my home over the years while also sewing for my kids and friends. I am pretty new to quilting. I took a beginner quilting class with my mom and I was hooked! I am also loving free motion quilting—in this quilt I quilted feathers, and feathers, and more feathers! I really enjoy putting fabrics together and choosing a pattern to highlight those fabrics.

 

For this quilt, I used the fabric collection, "Tickled Pink" by Janet Rae Nesbitt of One Sister Designs with the pattern "Tiny Dancer" by Jaybird Quilts. I was able to make it a lap size, which will be great for these winter months!

View the Full Collection by Janet Rae Nesbitt Here

Desire to Inspire January- Looking for a Challenger!

Spring adds new life and beauty to everything around it, and that’s precisely what this joyous line by Debi Hron does. With its vibrant palette, “Spring Awakens” features whimsical forest animals and insects tossed throughout this gorgeous collection, including speckles, stripes, florals, and a beautiful block panel. 
This 12-SKU collection ships in February 2019! 

In this month's Desire to Inspire Challenge, the winner will receive this collection to make something great. The caveat is... it MUST BE made in the month of January, and pictures of your finished project(s) must be provided to us by the end of the month. Along with your picture and bio, too, of course. 

Are you ready to take on this challenge? 

Send an email to jennifer@jaftex.com to put your name in the hat!

Click Here to View the Full Collection: 

Industry News- Upcycle Your Fabric this Holiday Season

This week's "Industry News" highlights Rina Albala and her three girls. They are letting their creativity shine through this holiday season by wrapping their gifts with both recycled fabric and other material that Rina had purchased for sewing, but never used.

Shari Okeke/CBC

Inspired by her mother who sewed Halloween costumes and even wrote sewing books when she was a child, Rina wants to foster the same love for fabric in her little girls.

The Albala family is using a Japanese wrapping technique to wrap all of their Christmas presents in fabric this year. This technique involves knots which makes it easy and safe for her young girls to do. PLUS the material is reusable for next year. We applaud the Albala family for upcycling their fabric and using it to wrap gifts this holiday season creatively!

Sounds like a #SewRevolution type of family! Don’t you think?

What are your thoughts about using upcycled fabric to wrap presents? Have you tried this technique before or would you like to? Sound off in the comment section below.

Industry News- Hats Off to Another #SewRevolution Contributor

This week’s "Industry News" highlights The Prairie Points Quilt Guild of Rainier, Washington. This 19-member guild has made 115 quilts in the last year with the help and support of many with hopes to distribute these quilts to local children who are living in extreme poverty in the communities of Yelm and Rainier, Washington. Click here to read the full article.

To the members of The Prairie Points Quilt Guild of Rainier, we commend you for your efforts in carrying out the tradition and craft of quilting in your area. Even more so, we applaud you for your willingness to assist those less fortunate in your area by sharing your time and quilting talent. Because of this, we believe that you are an essential part of the #SewRevolution.

 Want to become a part of the #SewRevolution? You can purchase our fabric to start a charity project for those in need in your community by clicking here. Keep us informed should you choose to impact another’s life through sewing.

Do you know of someone in your community who is going the extra mile to help others through quilting? Sound off and let us know in the comment section below!

Quilt Photos by Daniel Warn / Nisqually Valley News

Get Quilting-12 Days of Fabric Giveaway

Starting on Wednesday, December 13th we will be giving away a free bundle of Henry Glass & Co. fabric by entering this giveaway each day leading up to Christmas. Our 12 Days of Fabric Giveaway is a gift from us to you. An individual winner will be chosen each day!

Click the links below to enter each day for a chance to win from the giveaway:
Day 1- December 13th
Day 2- December 14th
Day 3- December 15th
Day 4- December 16th
Day 5- December 17th
Day 6- December 18th
Day 7- December 19th
Day 8- December 20th
Day 9- December 21st
Day 10- December 22nd
Day 11- December 23rd
Day 12- December 24th

Industry News- Challenges Build Relationships

You're probably familiar with the challenge that we present each month called "Desire to Inspire" which calls for quilters of all ages to creatively use one of our latest fabric lines. The winner receives the collection to make something great. The caveat is that the quilters only have one month to complete their project. Because our challengers work so hard, we then like to feature the quilter's work and share some information about them. 

In addition to that, we also post challenges from time to time from Jaftex President, Scott Fortunoff. We enjoy hosting these challenges to interact with the quilt shops (as we value helping our customers be successful) and our consumers (as we enjoy seeing what they have created out of our beautiful fabrics). It's important to us that we maintain this type of relationship with everyone that we encounter.

We want to highlight an impressive challenge that quilting pro, Debbie Roberts of The Quilted Moose in Gretna, Nebraska issued to her consumer base. This challenge included designing new red and white quilts. With a few requirements and no prize, love and passion for quilting were demonstrated indeed, as this call to action brought in an overwhelming number of quilts, 50 to be exact! 

 Click here to read more about Debbie's initiative. We want to give a special shout-out to Debbie Roberts and acknowledge her contributions in continuing to promote quilting in her community and beyond. Way to go!

Take a look at one of our lines which features a red and white palette. "Frosty Friends- 2-Ply Flannel" by Jan Shade Beach, which is one of our current favorites for the holiday season. Check your local quilt shop as some may not have it any longer. Click here to view the full collection. 

Stay tuned for more, "Desire to Inspire" challenges from Henry Glass & Co. and Jaftex President, Scott Fortunoff. 

Furthermore, keep watching on social media as we are currently hosting the Jaftex Holiday Challenge 2018, which features a “Behind the Scenes” look of the studios of each of our Henry Glass & Co., licensed designers, as well as other Jaftex Corporation designers.  Who doesn’t love a friendly competition?

Sound off and let us know what other competitions you would like to see in 2019!

Get Quilting- Indigo Cottage Giveaway

The “Indigo Cottage” collection by Mary Jane Carey of Holly Hill Quilt Designs is like a leisurely stroll through the English countryside. Designs in the collection provide a variety of size and spacing. The panel evokes a sense of romance. The artistry includes thatched roof cottages and flowered hearts. Perfect for a little embroidery in your project. They mix, match and blend to create beautiful quilted creations. The Palette blends together with hues of indigo, royal, chambray, and white.

Getting Quilting- Indigo Cottage Giveaway

View the Full Collection Here:

Desire to Inspire - November Challenge Carol Steffensen

Meet Carol Steffensen, owner, and designer of Chickadee Hollow Designs and Chickadee Chatter Blog. She took on the challenge of using "Fresh & Fab" the collection designed by Kim Diehl and her daughter, Molly Diehl. 

This is Carol's story:

I am a retired RN, wife of Dale, mother of three grown children, 6 grandchildren and my dog, Pooh! He is my sewing room buddy! I have owned a quilt shop in the past but only for three years as my initial desire in owning a shop was so that I would have time to design patterns which is what I really wanted to do. Little did I know that owning a shop left no time for pattern designing! So, I sold it after 3 years and started designing quilting and stitchery patterns which I have been doing for the past 15 years. I thoroughly enjoy what I do and plan to continue to do it forever if I can. I would like to design some fabric yet too, and I have it on my list for after the New Year. I have been an artist all my life and have dabbled in many different venues, but I really like drawing and color pencil the most. I especially like doing birds, flowers and nature things.

We live on a farm and have all my life out in the country along with horses, cattle, some chickens, dogs and cats. I came from a large family so I am used to lots of activity and we sure have that around here. The area where we live is wooded, with a state park just a couple of miles down the road and there are lots of lakes and wildlife around us.

My project, with the beautiful fabrics designed by Kim Diehl (who I am a big fan of) and her daughter, was a challenge. I looked at the fabrics for a few days before I actually cut into them. Being of modern colors and design were a bit out of the box for me. I tend to work with reproduction fabrics mostly and the warmer darker muted tones. So I did a little research on some modern patterns and trends to kind of get a feel for what I should make. I thought with this modern fabric I have to make something modern looking. Nothing came into my mind, and I almost felt like maybe I shouldn't have agreed to this project.  But then I started thinking that maybe the challenge for me was to make something with traditional blocks with modern fabric! So that is what I went with; it has turned out pretty and like I said before, it is what it is! My main project is a wall hanging or table center where I designed a pattern using some churn dash blocks of different sizes and also some 9 patch blocks of different sizes. ( I certainly hope the design is not one the Kim has already done as prolific as she is!!) But, I did it totally on graph paper like I always do and I will share that too if anyone wants.

Desire to Inspire December- Looking for a Challenger!

With various hues of pinks and browns, Janet Rae Nesbitt of One Sister Designs has certainly done it again with her exquisite line, "Tickled Pink". Featuring a variety of florals, mandalas, and ditzy tonals. Who knew it could be so great, but with browns, creams, and golds, and it is beautiful!

In this month's Desire to Inspire the winner will receive this collection to make something great. The caveat is... it MUST BE made in the month of December, and pictures of your finished project(s) must be provided to us by the end of the month. Along with your picture and bio, too, of course. 

Are you ready to take on this challenge? 

Send an email to jennifer@jaftex.com to put your name in the hat! 

Get Quilting- Home for Christmas Giveaway

Home for Christmas by Anni Downs of Hatched and Patched is a 20-Piece collection that features sweet, little whimsical patterns with soft, earthy tones. From Christmas trees to dainty stars, it's sure to be a hit this season!

Get Quilting- Home for Christmas Giveaway
Get Quilting- Home for Christmas Giveaway

View the Whole Collection

Get Quilting- Autumn Album Giveaway

Autumn Album by Color Principle is a 17 piece collection that features glamourous sunflowers, fall leaves, and words to remind us to be grateful during this time of year!

Get Quilting- Autumn Album Giveaway

View the Whole Collection

Desire to Inspire - Meet November Challenger Carol Steffensen

Meet the November Challenger for Desire to Inspire, Carol Steffensen. 

Carol hails from Minnesota and is a great example of not giving up! She has tried and tried to enter into the challenge, and was almost ready to give up when this month it happened...and we picked her! 

And not that we do this on purpose... but Carol also has a blog called Chickadee Hollow Designs. 

She received the fabrics last Wednesday and has gotten right to work. This palette is totally new for her, so she is super excited to step outside her usual zone to make something great for this month's challenge. 

Fresh & Fab collection

Carol Steffensen

Let's Get Quilting - Happy Camper Giveaway

Happy Camper is all about the "glamping" life, i.e. Glamorous Camping. This collection is a fun and colorful interpretation of campers and things to do when you travel to the great outdoors (in style). When you are out in the wilderness, you have to bring all the necessities of life along with you, so don't forget your fabrics, needles, and threads too! 

Let's Get Quilting - Happy Camper Giveaway

Take a look at the whole collection

Desire to Inspire - The Beautiful Quilt from the October Challenger

When we called for a Challenger for October we did not know we had pulled into the net a blogger, who is, in the words of Will Ferrell in Anchorman, "kind of a big deal." So she made a quilt for this October challenge using the collection "My Sunflower Garden" by Jane Shasky. And the quilt is also kind of a big deal. 

Of course it is beautiful in its making... and also in its final glory. See the pictures below. 

Here is the layout using EQ8

Block One

Block Two

Block Three

My Sunflower Garden Quilt

Here are her notes:

QuiltShopGal is a blog that focuses on researching and sharing insights about new products, designers, events, etc. 

QuiltShopGal used EQ8 software to design a quilt using the challenge fabric, incorporating 60 degree diamonds that also incorporated panel blocks from this fabric collection.  The patches for this quilt were cut with new Slit N Sew templates, to be released at Quilt Market (booth #2320) & Quilt Festival (booth #1046) in November by Quilters Paradise.

They made it easy to assemble the three different blocks used to create this simple quilt design, and ultimately the entire quilt, while retaining a scrappy looking quilt.

The finished quilt measures 60” x 72” and will be donated to the Carolina Hurricane Project coordinated by Carole of From My CarolinaHome.

QuiltShopGal loves the cheerful “My Sunflower Garden” fabric collection and hopes this quilt will give a much needed quilty hug of comfort to a victim of the recent hurricane.

Desire to Inspire November - Looking for a Challenger!

Following just behind the launch of Bumble Garden, a flannel line from Kim Diehl with her daughter Molly, is a 100% cotton collection that ships in November to quilt shops...Fresh & Fab. 

This is the youthful expression of the genius that runs in the Diehl family DNA in terms of textile design. 

In this month's Desire to Inspire the winner will receive this collection to make something great. The caveat is... it MUST BE made in the month of November, and pictures of your finished project(s) provided to us by the end of the month. Along with your picture and bio, too, of course. 

Are you ready to take on this challenge? 

Send an email to: vanessa@jaftex.com to put your name in the hat! 

Let's Get Quilting Giveaway! This week: Modern Movement bundle by Color Principle

Modern Movement Collection is full of color! We took it to the next level and keep things interesting by adding some bold bright colors and accents of metallic silver. This Modern Movement collection is full of prints with energy and a feel for motion. The flash of bright bold color throughout the collection ties the collection together in a new and exciting way.

 

Let's Get Quilting