We are super dooper excited to announce the new class schedule! We’ve got lots of Sewing 101, Beginning Quilting, and Beginning Garment sewing classes. Head over to our class schedule page and take a look see at all of the classes we are offering this go round.
I’m pleased to announce that we’ve got a few new instructors, too. I think you’ll enjoy Sarah Sharp of No Hats Quilts and Amanda Castor of Material Girl Quilts will be joining us. Of course, Lindsay Lefevere of Ellesquare and David Barnhouse of Circle City Quilter (crimsontavid) plus a crowd favorite Deb Martin of D.A.M. Designs will be returning.
Let us know what other kinds of classes you’d like to see us host. We’d love to entertain your ideas.
Yayyyyayayyy!!! We’ve added a new section of Six Weeks of Sewing 101 before we announce the entire schedule! You’ll find it on our website here.
Here’s what you can expect!
ADDED SESSION: Thursday April 3, 10, 17, 24, May 1, 8 6-8 PM
Let’s go deeper! The idea of Sewing 101 is great. You want to learn but you want to work together with the gang of Crimson Tate for more than two sessions. In this marathon session of Sewing 101 we will create pin cushion, pillowcase, zippered pouches, tote bags, and a very chic thread catcher that incorporates some aspects of quilting. It’s a great paced first time project series that will build confidence in reading patterns, cutting fabric, and using your sewing machine.
Instructors: Heather Givans + David Barnhouse
As a thank you for taking a class at Crimson Tate, a $25 credit will be applied when you purchase your Six Weeks of Sewing 101 materials in the store.
In order to not pay shipping for classes, be sure to select STORE PICK-UP during checkout.
Sewing machines are reserved on a first come, first served basis. Please email iwannasew@crimsontate.com or call 317-426-3300 to reserve your machine today!
Cancelation Policy: Please notify the store at least 72 hours in advance to receive a store credit for your class purchase. Unfortunately, we cannot offer any form of refund if we do not receive 72-hour notice.
This winter, mother nature came in like a wrecking ball — or whatever. And truth is, while we’ve enjoyed the cold quilty months, we’re ready to put our sandals on and hang our quilts outside to dry or picnic on top of them instead of burrowing underneath these dudes in search of heat.
Being inspired by spring, the staff of Crimson Tate created their own bundles to beckon spring through the doors. It’s time to dust off the gray and welcome color back into our world. Here are the selections we came up with. Let us know what you think and certainly let us know whose spring-time mix is most appealing to you.
Check out these bad boys!! This stack of eye-catching fat quarters is the ideal mix for your next quilting project. From the more masculine blacks and grays, to the black and steel colored essex linens, this bundle has a little bit of everything. The Echino Decoro bees and funky woodland animal print are just the icing on the cake. Edgy, springy, and cool, you’ll be all the rage at your next quilt bee meeting (and David will throw in a big bonus hug if you choose his bundle!!!)
Welcome spring with this fresh, bright bouquet of colors! This lovely bundle features beautiful fabrics from Echino Decoro, Amy Butler’s Hapi, Lizzy House’s Pearl Bracelets & Catnap, Lotta Jansdotter’s Mormor, and Ellen Luckett Baker’s Garden. These colors will surely brighten your next sewing project!
Eclectic, vintage, Japanese. Many of these fat quarters are cotton linen blends and of Japanese design with a vintage kick. Currently, I’m obsessed with teals that turn into blues. What you’ll find in this mix is a range of values from deep saturation of color to incredible low volume as evidenced in Lizzy House’s Catnap fabrics. I gave this a pop of hot pink to welcome in the spring and the return of color in our landscape. C’mon in warm weather, we’re waiting for you.
Which bundle do you like the best? We’d love to know whether you’re down with blues and grays with a masculine slant. Or if you prefer a saturated rainbow of color explosion. Or if you’d like to ride on the tranquil seas of blueish greens. We’re curious your opinion.
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That brings us to, we are looking for some extra staff. Wanna join our team?! Drop by Crimson Tate at 845 Mass Ave and perhaps the next post will be a photo of YOUR staff pick bundle. Get in here enthusiastic, positive, smarty quilters. We need your help in our store!!
Have you ever met Amy Butler? I remember being so starstruck and in awe of the fabric designing superstar that I just circled around her booth trying to catch her eye so I could at least say “Amy Butler looked at me!!!” When you’re in the presence of Ms. Butler, you’ll find that she gives you her complete, entire, and intense focus. She absolutely gives you her full attention and can’t be distracted by anything in order to listen to your stories.
At one point I thought it would be FANTASTIC to challenge Ms. Butler and her ability to focus but I think her grand will to stay in the game would outlast my ability to conjure stories about monotonous events. I thought of telling her stories like “Yesterday, I was planning a road trip with Ralph Macchio in a clown car. We’ll be traveling across America drinking lemonade and listening to Wilson Phillips but I had laundry to do which totally overtook my day which reminds me that I think I lost a button on my favorite sweater…” and it would go on and on. I wonder if her eyes would glaze over and she’d lose the ability to blink. I’m going to try this the next time our paths cross.
Since that first meeting of eye-gazing and sharking (albeit a kind, loving shark I imagine myself to be) around her booth, I’ve had the fortune of spending a few dinners and cocktail hours with Amy and I’ll tell you that she’s one of the funniest people I’ve met. I’d like to see her go for a round with my friend Claire Wilcher of ComedySportz here in Indianapolis. (Secretly, I’d like to be in that arena, too, with the two of them but I fear my face would break out in flames from my nervous hives and I’d pass out from over excitement. Maybe we can have a private laugh-off to see who is funniest).
Just like the woman, Amy’s fabric designs are full of humor, beauty, and sincerity which is exactly what you’ll find in Amy Butler’s newest collection HAPI. It’s outrageously great. I deemed it second best collection at Quilt Market Fall 2013. Having designed the patterns after a dream trip with her good buddies Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably (who I ate chocolate ice cream off of his spoon at dinner one night…that’s a whole other story that involves amazing margaritas and a cab ride home), Amy presents us with a red-blue-white color scheme that makes me very happy. Amy, alongside her husband David, traveled to Egypt with Kaffe and Brandon. Seriously, take a few moments and watch the video she and Dave created concerning their trip to Egypt.
Now, take a tour around her booth with me here with a few photos I took at Fall Quilt Market 2013.
And I couldn’t wait to make something from these fabrics so I’ve started the Pow Wow Quilt by Cluck Cluck Sew using these Amy Butler fabrics. I’ll keep you updated on my progress.
oodles of scraps of whites and reds (or if you need yardage, 1/8 yards of a goodly amount will suffice)
This quilt is perfectly suited to digging through your scrap bin and using up those oddly shaped pieces. The blocks can be as scrappy as you’d like, using as many different fabrics as you’d like. We encourage you to find at least eight different reds and five different whites, just for funsies and to create superior contrast.
If using eighth yard cuts, cut (2) 3 1/8” x 3 1/8” squares and (13) 2 ½” x 2 ½” squares from each fabric.
Cutting
To create each finished block, you will need:
(24) 2 ½” x 2 ½” white squares
(4) 3 1/8” x 3 1/8” white squares
— plus —
(17) 2 ½” x 2 ½” red squares
(4) 3 1/8” x 3 1/8” red squares
Half Square Triangles
Start by sewing the half square triangles. Draw a diagonal line across all of your 3 1/8” white squares using the 45° guide on your ruler.
It’s time to chain sew! Start with those 3 1/8″ squares using one white square and one red square (right sides together), sew a ¼” away from each side of the diagonal line
Cut along center line.
Press seams open. (We typically press our seams open around Crimson Tate, but you don’t have to be as persnickety if you absolutely hate it)
Trim half square triangles down to 2 ½” x 2 ½”.
Tip: Make your first two cuts a little bit larger than 2 ½”, then make your last two exactly 2 ½” in order to trim all four sides and remove the dog ears. See video below.
Designing Your Block
Shortcut alert! The following steps will save you oodles of time. Thanks to our friend Ellesquare who taught us this method in her Friday Night Brights quilt pattern.
On the ironing board, lay out your piece of interfacing glue side up. As you place your squares right sides up, be as careful as possible to leave the same amount of space between your squares (about 1/8”). Make sure your squares are not overlapping or touching. It will resemble a nicely tiled kitchen floor when finished.
Using the pick-and-pluck method, fuse the squares in place, taking care to not run over large areas of exposed interfacing. You may want to dig out your handy dandy pressing cloth.
Sewing
Fold first row of squares over the second row (right sides together) and sew with a ¼” seam. Continue in this manner for each horizontal row, being sure to flip the previous rows out as to not catch them in your next seam.
On the wrong side of the block, trim a scant 1/8” from your seam allowance as to remove the folded interfacing from all six seams.
Iron your seams open. In this instance, pressing your seam open is strongly advised – the interfacing adds a lot of bulk to the seam.
Tip: Finger press your seams open before you go for the iron. Easy-peasy!
Rinse and repeat! This time, sew the vertical columns together. Again, use a ¼” seam allowance, sew slowly, and try to keep the seams you just pressed open, well… open!
Trim seams you just sewed. Iron open seams.
Voila! We’re done! That’s a wrap! You did it! Make Valentines for all the precious lil’ lovers in your life! Big thanks to the Quilt Guild of Indianapolis who chose the heart block as their block for February which is where we drew our inspiration.
Do you know The Long Thread? It’s Ellen Luckett Baker’s sewing pseudonym. I mean, sewing aliases are the best. We obviously support them. But if we look out over the sea of Quilt Market Fall 2013, that girl Ellen Luckett Baker wins the prize. With her dusty tones of off beat color made only more sophisticated by the linen substrate that her Japanese manufactured designs are printed on, The Garden collection for Kokka won Best Prize at Market, according to me.
Take a look at her space in Kokka’s booth.
My goal is to become friends with Ellen. Her books are FANTASTIC! And we’ve been threatening to make the clamshell pillow found in her 1-2-3 Quilt book, which is boss. Put that on the list of things to create! Here’s a photo taken from Ellen’s website thelongthread.com of the clam shell pillow. Now imagine it in these fabrics from her collection The Garden. OH MY GOD. So good.
Congrats on the award, Ellen. Let’s get to sewing!!!
So, making a quilt that will forgive you for your first project is fairly important. Often I’ve recommended and taught the Yellow Brick Road Quilt by Atkinson Design as a perfect first quilt. It will forgive if you don’t cut, iron, and sew with absolute precision but to an observer, the quilt has a bit more sophistication. During our first class, we focused on best practice of cutting fabric and achieving a 1/4″ seam.
These girls are champs. I can’t wait to reveal what they’ll be creating for their first quilt ever. Let’s be inspired!
Seriously. She’s kinda brilliant. That Lotta Jansdotter is Freshy McFresherson. I am so happy that Windham Fabrics wooed the queen of Swedish design to their line-up of stellar cast members. Of course, Lotta Jansdotter is not new to the world of sewing and textile printing. She has been making handprinted textiles for years. As a fellow printmaker, I’ve admired how simple her techniques and results are. In her third line for Windham, she gives us a soft palette perfect for late winter early spring wearings. Take a visual tour around her booth —–>
Lotta Jansdotter gives you something to think about. The roughness and sometimes crude nature of the printed surface is very pretty. I like that her designs retain that hand printed quality, even though they aren’t hand-pulled prints. (Although all of my favorite printmaking teacher Kathy Reeves would tell you that spotty surfaces is shotty printing, but I like it in this instance. Sorry Kathy.) Here’s a closer view of one of those spotty fabrics, this photo taken from Windham’s website.
The happy news is that this collection is set to be shipped from Windham in early February and obs will be living at Crimson Tate. If you can’t wait to see it in its entirety, check out both collections on Windham’s website. One is named Mormor and the other Sylvia. (Sylvia is Lotta’s granny–her mormor).
Sylvia is a fantastic range of black and whites which we’ve ALL been waiting for. Thank goodness. You’re gonna like it.
xoxo
Heather
If you’d like to use any of the photography seen here, please email me at photouse@crimsontate.com I’m sure we can work it out!
Heather Givans 