Worlds are about to collide!  I’m the seventh stop (and maybe in seventh heaven) on Amy Butler’s Big-Old-Blog-Tour-Celebrating-Her-New-Book Piece Keeping. Even though I’ve got my own Paper Obsessed Blog Tour happening right now, I wanted to take a breather to show you what the Amy Butler has been up to.  Have you seen this book?

It’s ridiculously cute and incredibly inspired.  Amy and I discussed Piece Keeping while we were at Quilt Market in Salt Lake City, UT.  Remember?  We made our Letters from Home quilt from her new fabric Eternal Sunshine for her booth.

We chatted a lot about how the book was filled with all kinds of different fabrics, not just the beauties that Amy herself has designed.  As a fellow designer and artist, I agreed that it’s wonderful to pull inspiration from lots of different places.  Mixing and matching various substrates that have richness of color and amazing textures found in fabrics like cotton linens can be so rewarding.  I’m impressed that Amy’s new book pulls from a huge range of fabrics and textures.

One of my favorite projects in the book is the Stash Pouches project.  The book includes instructions and patterns for three sizes of pouches.  I landed on the large.

I wanted to incorporate some elements found in her inspiration, namely the leather pull and the metal zipper, so I headed to Diagon Alley to find my supplies.  Just kidding.  But I did go to a place that is pretty much where Harry Potter gets his supplies for Hogwarts.  If you’re remotely close to Indianapolis and have just a slight interest in working with leather, you need to go to Landwerlen Leather at 365 S Illinois Downtown Indy.

The outside is so unassuming with the mailbox numbers glued to the window with its hand lettered and painted sign.  But inside…

…it’s a dream world. Established in 1908, you’ll find old cabinets filled full of leather sewing supplies.  They are a leather supply and shoe findings warehouse for the leather trades, small manufacturers, and hobbyists.  And it smells INCREDIBLE like leather.

I got my goods, felt inspired, and set off to make my Stash Pouch.  I chose to use Robert Kaufman’s Metallic Essex Linen with a piece of vintage plaid I’ve had in my stash forever.  This also seemed like a good time to pull out a little hunk of Heather Ross’s Far Far Away printed on lightweight cotton linen to use as the lining.

Amy Butler made construction easy to follow and I truly appreciated that each of the pattern pieces told you exactly what to do as well as the book itself.  Piece Keeping celebrates patchwork, so of course, the flying goose is the star of this bag.  I mean, I love the flying geese. [Check out our Row by Row Experience block as evidence.]

My most favorite part of this bag, however, is the sweet pleats.  They make the entire project.

I added a little bit of my Paper Obsessed stamp fabric to the interior, just a little embellishment. I knew I loved it and I figured Amy would like the succulents hidden inside.

Here’s the view before I sewed it together.  Notice there’s a sneaky pocket inside, too.

Want to peek in on a sample of the book with a sample of the instructions?  Check it out here.

Amy Butler, Chronicle Books, Free Spirit Fabric, and Renaissance Ribbons are all giving away amazing swag with this blog tour. Each stop provides one winner a copy of the book, a fat quarter bundle of Eternal Sunshine, and a slug of Amy Butler designed ribbons.  Leave a comment here and tell me what kind of sneaky treasure do you want to hide inside your Stash Pouch or tell me about the most amazing store you’ve ever been in that was unassuming from the outside but inside, there was total magic.  I’ll draw one commenter randomly July 22 at 8:00 AM.  Please make sure there is way to contact you (either through your link or by adding your email to the comment).  Thanks for playing along.  Don’t forget to find me in other avenues or visit me in the store at Crimson Tate!

·         July 11 – Chronicle Books

·         July 12 – The Root Connection

·         July 13 – Suzy Quilts

·         July 14 – Rock Paper Scissors

·         July 15 – 100 Billion Stars

·         July 16 – Carrie Bloomston

·         July 17 – Late Night Quilter

·         July 18 – Heather Givans of  Crimson Tate [Alohamora!]

·         July 19 – A Gathering of Stitches

·         July 20 – Heather Jones Studio

·         July 21 – Make It In Design

And if you’re inclined, hop on the Paper Obsessed Tour, too.  We’d be happy to have you.

xoxxo

Heather

CONGRATULATIONS TO MARA!!! SHE’S THE WINNER OF THE RANDOM DRAWING.  And thank you to everyone for the fantastic stories.  🙂